Latest Blog Entries | STA Travel Blogs

Manhattan, New York

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:04:19 GMT

New York is amazing!! We have had some amazing weather which obviously helps, but it means we have been able to go out and explore central park and go across to Liberty Island without needing coat, umbrella etc!! On Friday we went to Central Park, getting very lost trying to find the zoo. Although it took several hours to find, the zoo was great! Very small but they had polar bears, penguins, monkeys, seals etc. Apart from almost getting attacked by a bird in the rainforest area it was a great way to enjoy the sunshine. We then went down 5th Avenue looking at all the designer shops along the way. We stopped off at the library and had a look around, but it was very confusing as they have very few books in there! We then went to the empire state building. I have been up it before at night time but it was exceptional during the day. There was perfect visibility and you could see for miles around. It was almost a shame to have to get the lift back down. Then yesterday we decided to go to the Statue of Liberty. Being a saturday and very sunny there was a huge queue, but we finally got over to the monument, had lunch there and wandered around Lady Liberty's feet! We didn't make it to Ellis Island but we took photos from afar! We had a wander around the financial district and then with aching feet went back to the hostel. We went out in the evening to Madame Tussuads so got to have photos with Tina Turner, johnny Depp and the likes!! Great fun but v.expensive for what it is! We then finished the evening off with a trip to an Irish pub, which as always lived up to expectation. Can't wait to see what today will bring, as I am going on a Gossip Girl tour!!! VERY EXCITING!!!!!

Agra, India

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:35:32 GMT

Hello from India's biggest tourist hotspot, Agra. The vast majority of travelers to India will visit this city of 1.3 million at some point during their trip to the subcontinent, and the reason why is simple - Agra is home to the most beautiful building in the world, the Taj Mahal. If it wasn't for the Taj Mahal I'm not sure if I would have come to India this trip, and I'm sure that's the case for many other travelers as well. So I wasn't disappointed when we turned up at our hotel to find it was situated less than 1km from the Taj entrance, with our customary rooftop restaurant affording us a distant view of the monument. Our guide advised us to wait until sunset before entering the Taj, so we spent our afternoon at another of Agra's famous monuments, the Red Fort. This was the second Red Fort I had visited in India - the first being the Delhi Red Fort - though this one was much better preserved. It was basically constructed to act as an impregnable barrier between invading forces and the Mughal King, who for a long time was Shan Jahal, the man who built the Taj Mahal. Remarkably, that man was also held prisoner in the fort for the last 9 years of his life, as his son deposed him as Mughal ruler. Such a sorry end to life for a man responsible for so much of North India's greatest architecture - his talents weren't just limited to the Taj. The fort had many lovely gardens and a lot of nicely preserved carvings, but perhaps its greatest asset was distant and unobstructed views of the Taj itself. The greatest concentration of the tourist hordes was unsurprisingly on the terrace offering Taj views. We spent one hour sightseeing at the Red Fort and then went back to our hotel for a short rest, before the time finally arrived to take the short walk to the Taj's eastern gate. The roads immediately around the Taj Mahal were very quiet traffic wise and so easily walkable. Around a decade ago the Indian government brought in pollution restrictions near the Taj because its brilliant white colour was being faded, but these have worked a treat. No vehicles can go immediately up to the eastern gate for anti-terrorism reasons, and there is a 1km exclusion zone to any vehicle not operating on green fuel. The Taj is thankfully back to its brilliant white colour, and looks good as new thanks to these measures. Walking out into the Taj Mahal gardens through the eastern gate was probably the final spine chillingly amazing moment of my round the world trip. The view was exactly how you see it in the postcards and on TV, but just to be there was incredible, and not even the throngs of tourists could distract from the feeling. The Taj Mahal is an absolute masterpiece of design, and it's incredible to think it was built in just 21 years from 1632. Shan Jahal constructed the building to act as a mausoleum for his favourite wife, whose coffin lies at the centre of the Taj. He died before the building was finished, but his son opted to bury him alongside his wife within the Taj. This was never his intention, but it was the cheap option for his son and it saved building another memorial. Shan Jahal's tomb is the thus the only thing thing non-symmetrial within the entire construction of the Taj Mahal. We queued up alongside the largely well behaved Indian hordes and took a walk through the mausoleum, but the interior of the building was much less impressive than the exterior. We exited in plenty of time for sunset and sitting in the gardens watching the Taj's colour change as the sun descended was a real highlight of my world trip. It was a fantastic moment. I am so glad the place lived up to my expectations, but that's been in keeping with pretty much all of the glorified world sights I've seen - from Macchu Picchu to Uluru to Angkor Wat. I guess that is why such places retain their positions as world wonders, and all of the wonders I have seen have proved to be distinct highlights of my 7 month world trip. I am saddened that I won't be seeing another world wonder this trip, but at the same time I would rather go home and save the rest for later life! Of course nothing I'll see in my final week in India will live up to the Taj Mahal, but the first place to attempt to do so was another world heritage site - the Mughal ruins at Fatephur Sikri, situated 42km west of Agra. Myself, Sam, Ruby and Adria all caught a taxi there this morning for the bargain fee of 3 pound per person, including waiting time. Fatephur Sikri was constructed in 1570 to act as the capital of the Mughal Empire. However, after a mere 14 years severe drought forced the city to be abandoned as the citizens all moved away in search of water. The remaining ghost town, which is comprised of 3 palaces and a mosque, is regarded as Agra's second greatest attraction after the Taj Mahal. The palaces, constructed for the King's Christian, Hindu and Muslim wives, have all been left to ruin, but the spectacular mosque is still in use today by residents of the small nearby town. After seeing so many palaces I was not overly fussed by the ruins at the Fatephur Sikri, but the mosque was impressive, and I was glad I made the trip. It certainly seemed the more preferable option to going shopping at Agra's crazy bazaars. However, I sadly won't remember Fatephur Sikri at all for its ruins and wonders. Instead when I hear the name I'll be drawn to think of one thing - hassle! The attention we received walking through the ruins, and especially at the bazaar near the car park, was truly horrific. As soon as we exited the taxi we were surrounded by touts trying to sell things, and trying to act as guides. They just wouldn't leave you alone no matter what you said. If you said you had no interest in buying anything they were unperturbed and would simply say "no problem, just looking". If you said you didn't want a guide they would just lower their price, and then follow you pointing out obvious things like steps as if you would give them money for that! After half an hour with these guys in my ear (I do my best to ignore them and keep walking as saying no or telling them to go away makes little difference), and in the 35C heat, I regrettably snapped at one of them, which the girls were none to pleased by. He was about the 20th would be guide to approach us and I just desperately wanted to be left in peace. I felt a bit guilty because this is what happens when you get too many people in a country with too little resources - people will do anything to make money. Disturbingly though, according to my Lonely Planet, the hassle in Agra is nothing compared with the hassle where we are going next. The Hindu holy city of Varanasi, situated on the banks of the Ganges, is meant to be horrific for hasslers, so I'll have to prepare myself for our 3 days there. We are catching the overnight train tonight, and I shall hopefully update before we leave Varanasi on Wednesday sometime. By that time I should hopefully know when I'm going home! I was hoping I would find out tomorrow, but the BA website now says the schedule will be compiled after the end of the first strike, so it'll be Tuesday at the earliest. I checked and the same flight I am going on next Sunday took off this morning in the middle of the first strikes, but I also read tales of nightmare last minute cancellations, so until my flight actually takes off I think I'm going to be worrying. Not what I need at the end of 7 months away. I really just want to be looking forward to coming home at this point, and if I'm lucky, this time next week I'll be in the sky! Thanks for reading.

Bharatpur, India

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 10:38:23 GMT

I'm now in Agra, but I've a little bit of catching up to do on my blog before I update all about my visit to India's most famous monument, the Taj Mahal. Last I updated I was in Jaipur readying myself for a night out at an Indian cinema! Unfortunately the film we wanted to see was not showing that night at the one screen cinema, so instead we were forced to watch a Warner Brothers comedy movie about an unwanted guest whose hosts could not get rid of him. Being unable to understand the dialogue we pretty much missed the entire comedy element of the film, and for long periods I felt like I was just staring at a brick wall. It didn't appear to be a particularly funny movie anyway - most of the comedy was slapstick and it seemed to have a lot in common with the type of Hollywood trashy family comedy we get in the UK. The Indians found it funny though and weren't afraid to voice their opinions as the film went on. For that reason all sound was blasted out at max volume through the large speakers. It was nothing less than I expected at an Indian cinema! The film had little in common with a Bollywood production, but we were able to see one of those at least a few nights ago in the hotel at Pushkar. I have to admit to being a bit surprised by what I saw that night, with the modern Bollywood production bearing little relation to the all singing all dancing stereotype I would have previously associated it with. The film was about two young Indian guys from Miami who for various reasons had to pretend they were gay. They both wanted to get with the same gorgeous woman, and the film was a comedy about their attempts to do so. In the end both of them failed as she married her widowed boss instead, but they all became friends and lived happily ever after. There were some dance and song scenes within the film but not many, and when they did come around they were very sexual, like you would expect a western music video to be. Shipla Shetty performed in the opening music number, though our guide said that in Bollywood terms she is a small scale actress and not the superstar we were led to believe. In general I thought the film had more in common with Hollywood than Bollywood, but it just goes to show how wrong our perceptions can be. One thing all Indian films have in common is there tendency to depict middle class India. For that reason they are almost always set in Mumbai (India's wealthiest metropolis) or a western world location such as London or New York. They show wealthy Indians living western lives - it's all so far removed from the traditional Indian life I have seen on my travels here, but it's what Indians want to see. The globally acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire flopped in India because Indians do not want to see poverty and negative portrayals of their country. The Indian government has even gone so far as banning other Channel 4 Indian based productions, simply because their realism is too harsh for Indian eyes. Anyway, the remainder of this blog will focus on my time in Bharatpur - perhaps the strangest and most random stop of our tour in India. The town itself is small by Indian standards and has no historical sights of interest, unlike other Rajasthani cities. The reason tourists visit (or used to) is down to the town's close proximity to the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary, which is considered one of the world's premier bird watching grounds. However, North India has been plagued by drought in the last couple of years, with the summer monsoons not bringing anywhere near enough rainful to sustain the landscape. Keoladeo has been badly affected by this, and the numbers of birds within the sanctuary's boundaries has plummeted. Many tourists have thus chose to stay away, or at least only visit from December to February, when the numbers of migratory birds are at their peak. We are however in the hot season, meaning many birds have already passed by here and many of the other animals stay out of sight in the shade. I can only think our reasons for coming were related to supporting the floundering local tourism industry. We arrived at the city bus station and from there caught rickshaws to our hotel, which was situated at the side of the motorway. The final stages of our rickshaw journey saw us go the wrong way up the motorway, head on in the direction of some overloaded lorries, but we made it unscathed! After a relaxing afternoon enjoying Star Sports (the first time we've had it in a hotel since Delhi) we caught cycle rickshaws from our hotel to explore the bird park. Our experienced driver also acted as guide, and he certainly had a pair of eagle eyes trained at spotting even the tiniest creature in the bushes. We saw a few parrots and starling type birds, but nothing overly interesting. The most interesting animals were all of the mammal variety, with their being plenty of antelope, deer and jackals wandering about. We also caught site of an interesting reptile, a recently fed python, hidden deep inside the bushes. We cycled around for almost 3 hours in the evening sun, and even though we didn't see much in the way of birdlife it was just nice to be somewhere peaceful, away from people and away from hasslers! The next morning it was time to depart Bharatpur, and indeed time to depart India's largest state, Rajasthan, where the majority of our North India tour was set. We have now crossed the border into India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, which translates as the Northern State, and we will be spending the next few days here. The 2 hour bus journey from Bharatpur to Agra was a momentous one for me, with it marking the final bus journey of my entire world trip! My three remaining overland journeys will all be done by means of overnight train, before I hopefully fly back to Heathrow next Sunday (BA permitting). I feel like I could have circumnavigated the world on a bus given the amount of mileage I've covered on them in the last 7 months. Bus travel has been by far my most common means of getting from place to place, and it'll seem strange not boarding one again in a few days time.

Wandin, Victoria

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 09:52:40 GMT

Wie die Zeit vergeht. Das war mein letztes Wochenende hier auf der Ranch. Kommen gerade vom grossen Wandin Park Event (Turnier ) zurueck. Das war mal ein super Cross Country Cours die Spruenge gingen bis 3*** Wow da ist ein S- Springen nichts gegen! Ich bin begeistert. Naja wer weiss vielleicht wechsel ich ja zum Eventing scheint spass zu machen und es ist alles dabei Dressur, Springen und Gelaende! Tiger und Fiddler haben sich gut geschlagen, sind zwar diesmal nicht unter die Besten 5 gekommen aber sind wieder eine Erfahrung weiter. Platz 13 ging an Tiger und 15 an Fiddler. Das ganze Turnier war ein grosser Campingplatz. Alle Reiter haben dort uebernachtet und Abends wurde zusammen gegrillt und im grossen Kreis zusammen gesessen! Jetzt sind wir zurueck und mussten feststellen, dass hier der Sturm die Baeume aus den Wurzeln gerissen hat. Dazu kommt, das Ebony sich den Ruecken ausgerenkt hat und sich nicht mehr bewegen kann. Tut mit voll leid das ich sie jetzt, mit der ganzen Arbeit, alleine lassen muss. Aber Cairns wartet schon auf mich :) Drei Wochen Sonne, Strand und ganz viele Fische. Anne kommt mich besuchen und wir haben uns einen Van gemietet. Mit dem wir von Cairns nach Brisbane fahren. Das wird toll! Ich hoffe nur das uns nicht der Sturm erwischt, der momentan hier angesagt ist. Heute ist mein letzter Abend hier bei Ebony und Rob. Morgen gibt es dann nochmal ein Essen mit allen und Abends fahr ich mit Ebony zu Ihrem Vater nach Melborne, weil Dienstag um 7Uhr mein Flieger nach Cairns geht, wo mich Anne am Flughafen mit Blumen und Sekt in Empfang nimmt! Freu mich drauf. So und jetzt noch was ekelhaftes zum Schluss. Letztes Wochenende hat die Mum von Ebony fuer Rob und mich Kisch mit Lachs gemacht, die wir natuerlich im Kuehlschrank vergessen haben :( eine Flasche Milch war auch noch dabei. Der Kuehlschrank war ueber die Woche aus und es war schoen heiss die letzten Tage! Was ist wohl mit der Kisch passiert?????? Na die kam uns dieses Wochenende entgegen gelaufen. IIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii alles voller Marden und iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii also eins sag ich euch, ich mach den Scheiss nicht sauber hihihihi. Wir war das noch: "Was du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf morgen! Wie wahr:)" So das war es von Darnum. Ich werde die Pferde vermissen und die super schoene Zeit mit den vielen Abendteuern auch. Ich bin aber auch gespannt, was mich am great barrier reef, whitsundays und in fraser island erwartet. Weitere Stories folgen! Drueck euch Kirsten

Beijing, China

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 08:13:01 GMT

Having moved to the new dragon hostel down the road from our finishing hostel for vodkatrain, we set out exploring our new area and found all the essentials we would need. As most of the others from the vodkatrain group were also staying in beijing for a while we met back up with them and went to the silk market which was quite an experience. You are hassled continuously and dragged to the stalls to haggle fiercely for a variety of fake goods...however we did manage to get some bargains. We also visited Beijing zoo with a couple of guys from the group which was good as we got to see some giant and baby pandas at feeding time...they were very cute! and we walked away wanting one. However, the rest of the zoo wasn't as impressive as some of the enclosures were rather small, the only advantage being was that you could see big cats and various other animals very close up. We also went into the aquarium which held numerous interesting fish, rays, turtles and dolphins. The next day we had a rest and in the evening went to the local night market which sold various bugs and animal parts deep fried on sticks to eat. We both tried some bee cacoon and scorpions which after some reluctance we realised tasted quite nice...altho one mouthful was still enough! A week after our arrival in Beijing we went for dinner to say goodbye to the last few people that were still here from the vodkatrain group. It was quite sad as we all felt we had become very close in a very short space of time and our adventure together was coming to an end.

Tongariro, New Zealand

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 07:44:46 GMT

Nach einer erfolgreichen Faehrueberfahrt mit unserem Wohnmobil sind wir sicher auf der Nordinsel angekommen. Waren dann erstmal in Wellington und dort in dem Te Papa Museum. Dort gab es viele interaktive Ausstellungen ueber die Flora und Fauna Neuseelands und die Maorikultur. Weiter ging es dann nach Napier, eine sehr schoene Art Deco Stadt am Pazifik. Das Wetter hier ist super. Wir laufen immer in kurzen Sommersachen herum. Heute sind wir dann im Tongariro National Park angekommen. Das ist der Park in dem Mordor verfilmt wurde aus Herr der Ringe. Den scharzen Vulkan haben wir auch schon gesehen nur das Auge darueber fehlte merkwuerdigerweise :) Morgen wollen wir eine Wanderung hier machen bevor es wieder weitergeht, diesmal ins Zentrum der Maorikultur: Roturua.

Port Douglas, Queensland

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 06:37:34 GMT

Hi All!! So the next point on this amazing journey was that my parents and my sister were coming out to visit me in Australia!! How cool is that!! They were all flying into Cairns just 2 days after I finished my time on the volunteer projects. So I had to fly from Melbourne to Cairns (about 7 hours). It was so amazing that when I was looking at flights to meet up with them, a flight became available that managed to get me into Cairns 10 minutes before my parents arrived from the UK!! Incredible!! And I met them at the baggage arrivals!! It was great seeing everyone again, especially since this was the first Christmas that we had spent apart. And so we began the Mistry Family Australia and New Zealand Adventure! After we all arrived in Cairns, we got a taxi to Port Douglas where we had booked a family accommodation room with a kitchen so we could cook and I gotta say that it was unbelievable having Mum’s cooking!! I really did miss it!! And so I ate... and ate..... and ate..... and ate some more!! Yum Yum!! At Port Douglas we went to the Daintree and Kuranda Rainforests where were saw crocodiles, monkeys and even a Casuary bird in the wild (looks like a colourful ostrich but it is an endangered bird)! These are so rare to see in the wild and it was so cool!! The rainforest was incredible and the wildlife was amazing. We saw so much variety and even had pictures with Koala bears at a wildlife reserve. We also did a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef which was truly magnificent!! Neither words nor pictures can do it justice - amazing wouldn't even begin to describe it. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest living organism, is visible from space, and is one of the Natural Wonders of the World. We were able to do three dives while on our cruise tour of the reef as well as snorkel and it was AWESOME!! It didn’t take much persuading for us to wear a stinger suit, especially since a few days before, someone we hospitalized dues to jellyfish stings! Ouch!! But I have to say, these stinger suits, the only way to describe them is……. Tight!! But they did the trick and no one got stung. There was so much to see and the weather was fantastic! Saw and swam with my first shark Whoop Whoop!! It was a grey tipped reef shark just over 2 meters long and it was great!! Also saw loads of sting rays, groupers, snappers, lionfish, eels, angelfish, damselfish and so much more!! My parents even went snorkeling on the reef and it was great to see them enjoying this amazing wonder of the world!! We then headed down to Sydney by plane where we were there for a day and saw the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and we even had time to go and see Bondi Beach!! It seemed a lot smaller than I expected walking towards it, but once you go down to the sand and enjoy the surf, it is amazing! Really enjoyed Sydney and then the next day we were off to New Zealand!! Now New Zealand……. WOW!! This is a country for adventure!! We flew into Auckland in the north island of New Zealand and as my flight arrived a few hours before my parents and my sister arrived so I used the time to sort out our first camper van where we would be touring New Zealand with!! It was great and our first stop was the Bay of Islands where we took a boat tour looking at dolphins, but as they were not exhibiting the correct playful behaviour, we could not swim with them, but it was still pretty cool seeing them so close. We then went to the Waitomo Caves where we did Black Water Rafting, Caving and saw the Glow Worms. This was pretty neat but a few times, I got close to being stuck in some of the cave tunnels.... not a pleasant feeling.... but super cool to get the adrenaline going! We also visited the Wai O Tapu Volcanic park and saw one of the volcanoes erupt when certain salts are applied to it, during one of the tours. I even almost managed to lose one of my slippers by stepping on same of the volcanic clay.... I was pretty lucky, it was not boiling hot as some of them are, but my foot then smelt distinctly of sulphur for the rest of the day!! Nice! And then came the Ice Glacier at San Jose!! Now this was Extreme!! This was one of only three Temperate Ice Glaciers in the world and this means that the glacier is formed in an area that also supports a rainforest. Mum and Dad started to scale the glacier before my sister and I did! Seeing them go up this amazing natural wonder was incredible!! And it was pretty scary going up this glacier. My sister and I were so proud!! Scaling the glacier was tough work and there were so many sights to see and challenges to overcome when crossing the glacier. There were even vertical tunnels (like chimney stacks) that we had to scale!! Whoop Whoop!! I have to say that this was one of the highlights of the trip!! After San Jose, we drove down to Queenstown, the adventure capitol of the world and we all went on one of the Jet Boat rides!! This was insanely fast!! And then our final stop on the New Zealand adventure was Akaroa where we really did save the best for last...... We swam with Hector’s Dolphins!!!! This was a truly exhilarating experience and one that I will never forget!! To see these wonderful creatures so close in the wild and to have them interacting and playing with you was just Awesome!! I loved it!! And there ended the Mistry Family’s Australia and New Zealand Adventure........ My parents and my sister had to go back home and I had to carry on towards my next volunteer project. It was sad to see them go but I am so happy that they came out as we all had such an amazing time and it was fantastic to share these experiences with my family. They had a good flight back to the UK and I had to go back to Sydney, where I stayed for a few days before my flight to the Ecuadorian Amazon for my next volunteer project – Rainforest Conservation Expedition. On the day before I left Sydney to Ecuador, I was walking on Bondi Beach and I heard someone shout my name. As I looked around I saw it was one of the Surf Lifesaver Director Marshals that was calling me. As I walked closer to the guy I recognised him. It was one of my friends that I studied with at the University of Surrey, Dave who I met on my first day at Uni and I had not seen this guy in over 7 years!! How amazing is that. As soon as he finished Uni he immigrated to Australia and had been living there for over 7 years! I met up with most of his Surf Lifesaver friends as well as his girlfriend and her family and it was great catching up! What an amazing last day in Australia! I absolutely loved Australia and there is so much yet to see..... And early the next morning I was at the airport, ready to board the flight to my next volunteer project – Rainforest Conservation Expedition in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Whoop!! Whoop!! Bye Australia!! Cheers, Prashant

Krabi, Thailand

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 04:47:43 GMT

Time for a bit of a blog catch up! To Krabi and Beyond! So, when the minibus arrives to collect us from Papillon, we are glad to see it looks relatively modern. On closer inspection...it looks to be full already. More fool us! Of course it is possible to squeeze more people in there. Once our backpacks are safely stowed, resting on other passengers feet nonetheless, we are then directed to hop in the front and sit with the driver. Great – this will be nice and cosy! So, the driver clearly knows how to look after number one. Primarily – by ensuring all air vents in the front are pointing directly at him! Why would his lowly passengers need any sort of ventilation in this insane heat?? I soon work on correcting this scenario. When he hops out to squeeze the next passenger in, i inconspicuously readjust the air vents....Very slyly done, even if I do say so myself. After 3 more people (and we thought there wasn’t space for us 2!) are slotted into non-existent spaces and their luggage held in place with a rather complex system of straps we are off on our way! And what a beautiful way it is! The scenery becomes more and more breathtaking, as the forests stretch out as far as we can see, all magnificent shades of lush green, and out in these uninhabited parts – not a single piece of rubbish in sight. THIS is how it should look! We soon realise that sitting in the front really isn’t that great...for one, the engine is right under our seats. As much as i have wished for it back in the uk, I certainly don’t need heated seating now! Secondly, as my daypack is nestled between my feet, my range of movement is approximately 1 and a half inches in either direction...not great for the old circulation. Andy also seems to have numerous newspapers wrapped around his feet...nothing like keeping a spotless vehicle! And thirdly, I am conscious of keeping my right knee at an awkward 45 degree angle AWAY from our driver so as not to interfere with his gear changing (and also not wanting to double up as an arm rest) The silver lining (and I am struggling to find one...) would have to be that at least we can see where we’re going. The poor folks behind us have the stack of luggage reaching from floor to ceiling obscuring their view. For the duration of the trip, we cross 3 rivers on large barge type boats...so there is no escape from our vehicle. We are extremely relived to reach Krabi town and finally stretch our legs! A very friendly tour operator pounces on us as soon as our feet touch the pavement, immediately asking us where we are staying. Preparing ourselves to turn down any offers she tries to pose to us, we’re surprised to find she just cheerily gives directions to our hotel and wanders away. There is a first for everything! Only real plan for Krabi is to visit the immigration office. As we were granted a 30 day visa exemption on our entrance at Phuket....we require an additional 4 days and understand the immigration office can grant this (for a small fortune, annoyingly) All very straight forward. Initially the immigration office worker advises us to simply overstay our visa exemption and pay the fine at the airport. This makes no sense for 2 reasons. 1) This will cost us MORE than paying for the extension (which undoubtedly causes him paperwork, hence him trying to discourage us) and 2) We understand from our extensive research, that if you are caught overstaying your visa conditions, the thai police do NOT look upon this favourably and take a very stern line. We know this is unlikely to happen, but stranger things have occurred. After our insistence that we would like the extension...within 15 minutes we are finished and able to put our minds at rest! Having expected the visa arrangements to take longer, we hadn’t really counted on having spare time in Krabi. Whilst having lunch at a nearby guesthouse we stumble upon a brochure for “Ya’s Cookery School.” We had intended on doing a Thai cooking course at some point and decided to strike while the iron (or more suitably, the wok) was hot! We would be collected at 12.15pm the following day for our class – we can’t wait! We didn’t really have high expectations for Krabi as all the guide books we had read simply referred to it as a “hopping off point” for the surrounding islands, and suggested it wasn’t worth a stay. We beg to differ! Granted it is small, and perhaps doesn’t have a great deal to offer, but it has a wonderful laid back atmosphere. A good mix of small scale guesthouses, a large food market, and outdoor stalls selling local delicacies – just a nice, easygoing place. As promised, the tuk tuk for the cooking school arrived promptly and we were surprised to later discover it was actually Ya driving! Already on board were a young couple with their gorgeous little girl. After a couple more stops we are joined by a mother and daughter from Canada (although the mother had a distinctly Irish accent, which I of course asked about and she denied any links with Ireland. Bizarre!) and another chap on his own. After dropping off the mother with the young girl for some beach time, whilst her husband attended the class, we were well on our way to the cooking school. We first made our way out of Krabi Town, then onto the beach resort of Ao Nang. We were beginning to like Krabi more and more! Ao Nang has all the typical “beachside resort” offerings – many shops, bars and restaurants and a lovely beach but on a smaller scale. Moving away from the beach and towards a more forested area, we finally reach the cooking school! In a lovely rural location, away from any hustle and bustle. The cooking class is brilliant fun! Ya is completely bonkers, but also a fantastic cook and teacher! Although her English isn’t amazing, she manages to use humour perfectly, which is a mean feat when you have a class of multi-nationals. We learn about different types of vegetables and spices and our first task is preparing an assortment of them. Ya’s use of “Bang Bang” (meaning: “ whack it with the rolling pin”) and “chuck chuck” (meaning: “one shake of the sauce bottle”) instructions are hilarious, and she soon has us all using such directions. If a stranger was to stumble into this class, I’m sure they would assume we were all a little crazy with our random outbursts of “yeah! Bang bang!” and “5 chuck chucks! 5 chuck chucks!” They really are the best, down to earth, plain English directions though! It is not long before we are tackling a Pad Thai dish (traditional thai style fried noodles with veg, egg and a meat of choice). Great fun! We also make (or should that be, attempt to?) a curry each. I choose my favourite green curry and Andy goes for the hotter variety of Penang Curry, using the pestle and mortar to grind ingredients for the curry paste causes much entertainment – yep you guessed it, lots and lots of “bang bang” instructions. Next we move onto soups and stir fries (coconut milk soup (Tom Kar Kai) for Andy and chicken and holy basil stir fry for me) and finally I help with making a papaya salad while Andy tackles stir fried morning glory. Once all the dishes are laid out ready to dig into, it looks pretty impressive! We have had such a great time with our group, following Ya’s expertise. Also her two assistants are great at guiding everyone, but also having a giggle at our expense! We would definitely recommend the class to anyone who visits Krabi. We are on a culinary high on leaving the school, armed with our recipe books (and Andy with his additional book, at having sweet talked Ya into giving him one with our now-favourite Massaman Curry recipe in) There is much talk of our optimistic plans to rustle up such dishes on our return home..hmmm..we’ll just have to wait and see if we actually follow through! We’re pleased with how we’ve made use of our time in Krabi, next on the agenda...the fairly long trip across to Koh Samui! We will be taking a coach to Surat Thani and then a ferry from there to Koh Samui....

Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 03:05:27 GMT

We spent a good 2 weeks in Chaing Mai, and it was time to say good bye. Our first day in Kuala Lumpur was awesome. Our friend Jodi had recomended an amazing area, right in the heart of the city. Found a really cheap room that was clean and had air con.! Found great street food (BBQ and tandori chicken), wandered the streets and settled down in an Egyptian cafe, smoking a hookah and did a little people watching. Spent most of the next day searching for the bus station to buy a bus ticket to the Perhentians. So stinkin hot and humid. We must have stopped for icecream and iced tea tareks about 3 times. We were figuring out the local area and train system pretty good!! We also did a good walking tour and saw some fantastic old British-style buildings, went into a mosque (yup, I had to wear a scarf on my head and wear a full robe!) and toured to Chinatown. Oh, Chinatown!!! Still makes me smile as it reminds me of our time in China, all the little shops, red lanterns, temples with incense burning and FOOD! Headed back to our place for much needed air-con and a nap. Later on we went up the Menara tower (254m high!) and it took 56 seconds to reach the top (ears popping the whole way). We had a great night view of the city. We headed over to the Petronas Towers to get a night picture. The city reminded me of Hong Kong a bit; quite clean and it had lots of trees and green space. Not as crowded and crazy as Bangkok. The next day, we went to the Petronas twin towers. They are HUGE! You can't go up them very far. they only let you up 140m, that's why we went up the Menara. The towers have a huge mall attached which was nice and cold compared to outside. We did some window shopping, and stopped at a sushi restaurant. It had a conveyer belt with the sushi on it, and all you did was grab what you wanted, no ordering, the plates were color coded for price. We were leaving on a night bus to get to the Islands so we continued to wander the streets, eat chicken and iced teas. Headed to the bus station and had a pretty decent bus to the ferry stop to the Perrhentian Isl. Arrived at 5am so we slept on some benches before the 8am ferry. Took a boat to the islands and the ride was CRAZY!! Waves were up to 8 feet high and when you ride one up and then slam down the other side well, lets say it was like a roller coaster. 45 minutes later we arrived at Mama's Place, got a great little bungalow and saw the white, white sand and gorgeous water. Just what we wanted!!! For being in Asia so long we had not been on the beaches for a while and this is hte perfect spot to do nothing but 'change color' (that is what a Malay man in KL told me would happen!). We were planning on staying a week, and here we are 11 days later! This place is amazing. Now i know why so many of our friends loved it here. We snorkelled with black tip reef sharks, turtles and sting rays. kinda freaky seeing a shark 20 feet from shore. The plan is to stay a bit longer, then head straight to Singapore. Universal studios just opened up there, so we might go if we can. Got a plane to catch March 30th leaving for LA!! Got our hotel booked in Vegas. TI on the 4-7th of April. Then after that we meet everyone in Mexico for the WEDDING. YEEEEHAWWWW. Miss you all steve and monique

Queenstown, New Zealand

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 02:35:00 GMT

Hello once again! I can't believe how rubbish I am with blogging! I'm nearly at the end of my New Zealand adventures so have a lot to catch you up on... I joined the bus in Picton and made the way to Nelson where I booked myself on a full day kyaking in the Abel Tasman. I climbed the steep, but rewarding path to the 'Centre of New Zealand' which apparently is the geographical centre and looked out over Nelson with a 360degree view. Back at the hostel I bumped into a friend, Eric, which was great as we had a good chat and treated ourselves to cheap Pizza Hut that lasted me two dinners :) The next day was kyaking day and I rose at 6.30am for the pleasure! The drive to the National Park was stunning as the sun rose over the sea and beautiful surrounding bushlands. The kyak itself was great fun and once again, such amazing surroundings with spectaular weather - with blue skies all around. Our little group stopped for a tasty packed lunch on one of the bays having seen seals up close and personal and even a teeny, tiny penguin floating on it's back in the sea...! Having travelled back to Nelson, I was pretty exhausted, but bumped into a few more people I had met briefly in the North Island and discoverd I would be on the same bus as them departing the following day...another early start. From Nelson we travel through Nelson National Park with our final stop of the day being Westport where the group of five girls I was part of managed to get a little 2 storey apartment - so great! It was like a home away from home and while two of the girls went jet boating the remaining 3 of us maed a tasty chilli in a great kitchen (such a rare thing!). We then got dressed up to go to the local to meet the locals. After a few drinks I challenged some to a game of pool and actually made a valiant effort...but lost by less than an inch...! A good night all in all and I decided to change my plans so I could stick with the little Kiwi Family (comprising of Emma, Jonna, Anka and Jen). The 'Poo Party' in Lake Mahinapua was the following night so we found out the theme (Imagination - rubbish!) and shopped for costumes in Greymouth. We went as agroup and decided on 'Rainbow Killers'...no idea...don't ask! I managed to call Dave for the first time, which was great, but I was a little drunk at that point...sorry Dave! ANyway, the rest of night was good fun and I even drank a jug of snakebite...! As you can imagine the following morning I felt a little fragile so had a pretty relaxing evening when we arrived into Franz Joseph. Having said that I relaxed in another kyak on one of the lakes in Franz Joseph and watched the sun set from the water. It was beautiful, as everything seems to be around here! My birthday arrived and I was surprised by Emma and Anka coming out of the shower singing happy birthday with balloons! It was so sweet! The rest of the day was amazing as we went on a full day glacier hike, clambering our way through caves, tunnels and the narrowest crevace. One guy got stuck and started to panic so it was a little scary as I wedged my way through sideways, occasionally getting stuck myself. We made it through though, and the group sang happy birthday at the higest point we reached...another highlight of the day :) Feeling exhausted back at the hostel, I was banished to the dorm room as the girls worked in the kitchen. I was allowed down with my eyes closed to open them and find a yummy cooked meal, balloons and a cake with candles - it was so lovely! We then went to the hostel bar where I had wine, snakebite and spirits...! (What's happening to me?!) I then realised it was Mother's Day so made a quick dash for the phone and managed to speak to every member of my family - Yay! It was so great to hear them and find out what they're up to especially on my birthday. The best birthday present :) We left Franz Joseph the following day with me nursing a sore head (!) and made our way to Wanaka via Lake Matheson where we saw the 'Mirror Lake' catching climpses of Mount Cook between the clouds in the reflection. It was pretty amzing and we stayed there for a good 30mins taking it all in. Wanaka was a relaxing town and having checked in I was called back to reception to find a big bouquet of flowers from Dave. The cheeky man arranged for the hostel to buy flowers for my birthday...I must admit it was pretty great :) I'm still travelling around with them as they seem to not die! The rest of the afternoon was spent by the lake and muching good, cheap food. Queenstown...blimey where do I start?! It's a pretty crazy place involving drinking and extreme sports of which I have done both...! Our first full day began at 7.30am to make the long drive to Milford SOund. The drive there was sublime and the boat cruise was unbelievable. I had to pinch myself a few times to check I was relly there. We saw more selas and visited an underwater marine reserve, which was pretty cool. That night was St Patricks Day so we all went out and I met up with some old friends from previous buses. A great night out and lots of silly Irish hats involved :) Despite, another sore head the next day, I booked myself to do a canyon swing...! I was petrified, but a guy in the same group made me feel a little better and even gave me a much needed "3, 2, 1...!" when I was hesitating on my first jump...that's right...I did two! No idea why as i was petrified! I honestly though I was falling to my death the first time when I jumped backwards and fell 60m before the rope tightens and I swung across the canyon. The second jump I rose to do upside down, which was superb! I felt I was flying at the same time as trying not to throw up...weird sensation but glad I did two jumps :) Having had a massive adrenaline rush I boarded a bus to Dunedin to reach the Otago Penisular and sea Royal Albatrosses, fur seals, sealions and the endangerd Yellow-Eyed penguins. It was great to see so much wildlife and the peninsular was gorgeous. I'm now back in Queenstown and taking a much needed day to chill out and relax with a book and cup of tea :) I'm off to Mount Cook tomorrow to hopefully complete a two day walk, weather permitting. Then off to Christchurch to meet some uni friends and eventually Dave...! I'm not excited at all...! That's all for now, love as always and keep the messages coming :) Isey xxx

Whistler, British Columbia

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 01:45:12 GMT

Sorry for the wait my disciples but I bring you news from the last few days. I've been having some great fun on both the mountain and the town. If you've seen my facebook already you'll know that the clubs out here are pretty cool but you won't know that they make you pay through the neck for this. I'm getting metaphorically bent over by prices out here and am not pleased! Also still haven't really done a lot of washing so am planning on begging Sarah, the house mum, to help me. If you thought that was bad, its worse to know that I'm not actually the only one with Chaz having washed 3 pairs of socks. We have a new member to the house whose name is Laurie and is pretty cool. We took him to the gym a couple of times as he wanted to get hench for kickboxing but has now lost the ability to straighten his arms. That's what you get when you mess with the big boys though, I did pre warn him. Incase you don't already know I've been pretty much accepted to Nottingham, though they need confirmation of my grades which is annoying because I'm in Canada but I'm getting mummy to do it for me. The celebration was fantastic and we ended up in the beagle again. I felt rather weird though because at the end of the night some random middle-aged man, who thought I was "cool" because I supported arsenal offered to buy me drinks. Despite this being fairly creepy and boarder-line dangerous due to his size I accepted a few yager bombs, which again aren't cheap so I guess he was pretty into me. We have our level 1 ski instructors exams next week and I'm pretty nervous but I really hope I do well.Despite my raw skills and personable outlook, I may not make it. I'll update you soon. " If you think about the future too much, you might just forget the present"

Worblaufen, Switzerland

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:55:25 GMT

Juhuu der Flug ist Gebucht und in ein paar Monaten werde ich Skandinavien sein, einer der schöönsten Regionen der Erde. Aber vorest muss ich mich noch gedulden und meine Reise im Kopf geniessen.

Sydney, New South Wales

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:41:23 GMT

hi leute, nach etwas mehr als einer woche kann ich mich mal wieder aufraffen einen neuen eintrag zu schreiben. in dieser woche ist mal wieder viel passiert :) die fotos von der white party habe ich ja bereits reingestellt, die war super geil...die musik war klasse und die location so wie so! sonst ging am wochenende aber nicht mehr viel. am sa waren wir am bondi beach und haben uns die surf competition angeschaut...aber leider war es etws kalt und wir haben es dort nicht allzulange ausgehalten. am sonntag war dann nur unizeug angesagt..seit dieser woche haben wir aber wieder geniales wetter (30° und sonnenschein^^) die ersten 2 tage der woche haben wir komplett in der uni verbracht und daher leider nichts von dem schönen wetter gehabt. am mittwoch haben wir unsere kurse aber ausfallen lassen um auf eine night harbour cruise zu gehen :) die war richtig schön, die harbour bridge, das opera house und die skyline bei nacht sind wirklich traumhaft. was nicht so traumhaft war, waren die ganzen betrunkenen amis auf dem boot^^. die sinds einfach nicht gewöhnt alkohol trinken zu dürfen unter 21...im anschluss waren wir noch auf einer afterparty direkt am hafen. am donnerstag haben wir mal wieder einen neuen strand kennengelernt. unser mitbewohner james hat uns mit nach clovelly genommen, das ist ein ganz kleiner und fast nur von einheimischen benutzter strand. er liegt in einer kleinen bucht und man daher super dort schwimmen, da keine großen wellen kommen und einen mitreißen :) dort haben wir auch einen australier kennengelernt, der uns zu einer weiteren whiteparty eingeladen hat, die aber privat von einem seiner kumpels veranstaltet wurde. (dort waren wir gestern, also samstag, aber nicht lang, da die party eher langweilig war) am freitag waren wir oben am circular quay bei den rocks night markets. das sind so kleine echt süße stände in einer der schöneren gegenden sydneys. haben uns nen crepes gegönnt (die echt teuer waren) und haben uns noch mit freunden getroffen und waren dann noch im löwenbräu^^ das ist auch direkt bei den rocks...dort haben wir nach langer zeit mal ordentliches bier getrunken..das was die australier bier nennen ist eher ne bierfarbene wassersuppe^^ sind dann noch weitergezogen ins ivy, das ist der neuste und größte club, den sydney zu bieten hat. die location war auch echt beeindruckend. angeblich hat der ganze komplex mit 10 restaurants, mehreren bars und tanzflächen, einer poolarea und was weiß ich was es da noch alles gibt, um die 150 mio AUD gekostet. leider hatte ich an dem abend meinen foto daheim vergessen. aber ich komme bestimmt nochmal da hin und dann mache ich definitiv einige bilder!!! gestern (samstag) waren wir auf dem north shore in manly und waren auf der abschiedsparty vom thilo. das ist einer der besten freunde von meinem bruder, der 6 jahre in sydney gelebt hat, aber heute australien verlässt. er hatte also gestern ein abschiedsbbq am shelly beach, eindeutig einer der schönsten strände, die sydney zu bieten hat. der strand ist zwar nicht so groß wie bondi oder manly beach, aber wirklich paradiesisch!! (--> siehe bilder) haben also gestern den ganzen tag dort am strand verbracht mit kühlem becks und burgern, ganz aussi like :) an diesen lebensstil könnte ich mich echt gewöhnen :) ich muss defintiv für ein paar jahre nach australien auswandern, habe ja jetzt schon angst, dass die zeit hier viel zu schnell umgeht (was sie auch tut, meine güte ich bin ja schon über nen monat weg...) ach ja und abends waren wir dann noch auf der nicht weiter erwähnenswerten white party ;) ach ja und dann hatten wir noch nen netten zwischenfall mit einem dämlichen geldautomaten, der uns kein geld ausgegeben hat und es uns trotzdem berechnet hat. mir fehlen jetzt also 500 euro, die ich in frühestens 2 monaten erst zurückbekommen kann...bürokratie ohne ende.. und wie ihr aus meinem erlebnisbereicht auch entnehmen könnt, ist das ich dieses wochenende noch nicht wirklich dazu gekommen bin was für die uni zu machen...hehe...was aber leider dann heute auf dem programm steht, hab nächste woche eine hausarbeit abzugeben, ne präsentation zu halten und ne klausur zu schreiben (von den 15 texten die ich auch noch zwischendruch lesen muss, ganz zu schweigen...) also mach ich mich jetzt wohl mal besser auf und bin fleißig!! glg

Valladolid, Mexico

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:30:11 GMT

Hey allToday we decided to have a more laid back day, and have a run around the colonial town of Valladolid!! It is an incredibly pretty town with every building painted a different colour, murials on walls, and many stunning churches dotted around the place. Has been a hot day today probably reaching around 35 degrees, so we decided to have a mid day siesta and watch the Westham Arsenal football game on the TV in our hotel. After an afternoon stroll of the city we decided to head to the market, where we bought a bag of fruit into which a lime was squeezed and the locals added salt, must have been a local delicacy as we thought it was a bit disgusting. Never mind may as well try everything once!! We plan on having a quiet evening, so not much to report today.Simon, Howard and Fran

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:45:25 GMT

Buenos Aires After a early start in Cusco on the 11th we got a 737 – 200 to La Paz, this plane must have been years old as it looked like a plane from one of those 70,s movies! But the flight was only 50 mins long and we landed safely in La Paz (Bolivia), where we spent 10 hours of watching the American apprentice which is no where near as good as the English one by the way. (thanks to the lap top again and the free WIFI!) Later we were ready for the next Aero Sur plane to Santa Cruz (Bolivia). This was a nice easy flight. We arrived in Santa Cruz and slept on the comfy seats a surprisingly good sleep. It was weird every time I woke up through the night someone else was sat next to me, so I cuddled my bags tightly! That morning as we were about to take off on the 3rd 737 – 200 to Buenos Aires the pilot spoke over the speakers and said there was some sort of problem with the plane, he spoke in Spanish so we didn't know specifically what the problem was. Our hearts were racing faster and palms got sweaty, even after 3 Diazipan! After taxying back to the airport engineers came on and fixed the problem, so we thought! As we were in position to take off again the same problem arose and back to the airport we went! Out of the window was a nice new TAM airoplane and we just wanted to be on that one. Third time lucky we took off, to the left of me was a guy who had a 1000 to many steak sandwiches and on the right was a terrified Mishee in tears and hyperventilating as she was so scared. The build up of all the faffing of the plane really got to her, and on take off we were turning at a crazy angle soon after we left the floor. The flight after this was smooth apart from the last 50 mins which was horrible and my second worst experience of bad turbulence. Never the less we touched down in Buenos Aires and were really chuffed to have our feet back on the ground. 3 flights to Argentina from Peru but was worth all the waiting and stuff for the price of the flights. From Eusza airport we were touted by taxi men quoting us 100 pesos for a cab and shuttle buses 85 pesos, me and Mich went for the cheap option of the local bus number 8 for 2 pesos like 40p or so! Although 35km took two hours it was still a bargain and it took us 10 mins to walk to the hostel and we checked in with out a worry. Our Hostel was a real old building in the old centre of Buenos Aires, San Telmo. Rooms were a bit run down but was clean enough and theebathrooms were really nice and the location was amazing so couldnt go wroung at hotel Bolivia for £14 a night, the staff are verry helpful aswell. We had an early night on the first night and had dinner at a local place in San telmo. The second day we wandered to the subte station and went to meet my friend Ari who I lived with and snow boarded with in Whistler, Canada. Ari lives in the posh part of the city Recoleta, very posh apartments with beautiful tree lined streets and posh apartment blocks. It was great to see him, doesn't feel like 4 years ago that I last saw him. We jumped in his car and he took us to get tickets for his Football team River Plate and had an amazing steak sandwich for lunch. Fair play to Ari for driving around the busy city, some parts of the city has 7 lanes of traffic with constant horn blowing going on and a lot of people having some bad road rage issues!! After having a siesta back at the digs in San Telmo we headed back to Ari's part of town and went up to his apartment for beers. We had a right giggle talked about memories of our fun times in Whistler and then caught a cab to the nightlife of Buenos Aires. It was 2.30 am and we were going out! At home we would be coming home and that would be a late night, they love to party in this city and have a silly amount of bars and clubs that suite everyone's music taste from tango clubs to Massive head banging trance clubs, where we went! I hadn't been to a club this big for years and it brought back many good memories of clubbing to amazing music until the early hours of the morning! We danced the night away, saying that it was me and Mich who kept the party alive as Ari got a bit tired and drunk and had to resort to sleeping outside on the patio section of the club but he was all good, we also met some other cool Argentinian people and danced with them for a while! I remember one of my favorite tunes coming on at about 7 and seeing the sun coming up through the window behind us! After all this madness we got Ari found a cab and headed back to the hostel for a few hours kip! After not much sleep we headed back again to Ari's part of town to meet up with him to go to the football game, River plate vs Hurricane. Ari told us to be prepared, we were going to be behind the goal with all the passionate fans. This was absolutely insane with singing, chanting, and jumping around for the whole 90 mins of the match, River won 2 – 0 and all was happy. I don't think I would of liked for me and Mich to be in there if they had lost a nutter might have taken his anger out on the two tourists in the crowd! Was an incredible buzz and we really got into, trying our hardest to learn the songs and pointing aggressively toward the other fans!! We were stood up all game which was cool as we could jump around and the game was only 30 pesos £5 ish. What a bargain, to see Spurs would be £60 in row z! The football is no where near up to the standard of the Premier league. It was very slow but Ari was telling us all the descent players get shipped to Europe because more money is in it there, sucks for them. After barley making it out of the stadium alive after being pushed and shoved from side to side we caught our subway train back to our hostel and slept like babies after a crazy 24 hrs of partying!!! Monday was a very chilled day we didn't do anything apart from wonder around our local area and eat food and book our ticket to Iguazu. The subway and bus stations here are amazing and you can get pretty much anywhere for 1.20 Pesos 20p or so! We couldn't believe the sheer size of Buenos Aires a massive massive city that in a lot of parts resembles New York, the cities population is 13 million!!! So the subway (tube) was always a squeeze! Tuesday we did a mission of walking from San Telmo, through one of the widest avenues in the world with 7 lanes of traffic each way and took a look at the obeliskca, then through the posh streets of Recoleta, this is the area to live its lovely, in Recoleta we visited a very famous cemetery, where famous and the rich are buried, not in graves, but in grave houses! Amongst the dead buried here is Eva Peron 'Evita' a famous Argentinian politician whom was married to the then president of Argentina Juan Peron. She mostly fought for women's rights and for the poor (shirtless ones) of Argentina, and she was loved and hated by many. Then from here we walked to the parks in Palermo which is another really nice area and a top choice for tourists and we relaxed in the gardens for a while. Being too tired to walk back we were lazy and got the subte to San Telmo. Wednesday we did a tour of BA ATM's it was a highly annoying couple of hours as the banks here do not let you take out large sums of money, we hate paying to withdraw money. Then we revisited our favourite restaurant in San Telmo 'La Continental' where Mish fell in love with the Spaghetti Parisiene and I loved the empanadas. The food in BA is amazing! The next morning our final day in BA we went to meet up with Ram one of Chris and Hannah's friends who is a very busy man working and studying all the time, we were lucky to catch him for lunch. We met him outside his Uni and walked to Recoleta. Ram lived in Monmouth previously for 11 months so we had lots to talk about, such a nice guy! It was great to meet up with him. Tonight we catch our 18 hour bus to Iguazu it should be amazing as we are going in an executive bus! Great times in BA! One of the best cities so far! Could live here for a while! Ads and Mishee xxxxxxxx

NYC, New York

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:16:06 GMT

Hiiiiiiii How are you all? Just thought I would do a quick update while I can be bothered! :P I've been very slack re the sightseeing this week, but have made up for that by partying again hahahah! Had a couple of lazy days and finally finished my bloody book, which I know isn't really of much interest to a lot of people... or well anyone, but it has been bugging me, semi-boring and never ending! So that is exciting for me haha! In my defence re sightseeing and other tourist activities - I did go to the International Centre of Photography, to the Chelsea Hotel and the museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology; albeit all was done in one day, at least it was done! The photography place was AMAZING! Really really cool and makes me want to pick up proper photography, take lessons etc when I get home. It was pretty wicked and creative stuff, all from the 1930's and around then, which I find even more fascinating! The sun has been back out so had a nice relax (eating some honey coated coconut from nuts for nuts mmmm mmmm) in Union Square park on Monday and got to go out and enjoy the weather today also. Gina, Francophile and I went to some park, I don't know the name, that overlooks the George Washington Bridge (I think it was that bridge?) and had a mini bbq. It was great! There were plans to do Gina's Dad's famous beer butt chicked recipe thingy, which involves shoving a can of beer up the chickens hoo-hoo area, but that didn't come to fruition; instead, we had a very amusing, yet long, show of Francophile trying to cook the thing! I had steak. I still hate chicken. But it was super nice to be back in the sun, even went a bit pink, which is poetic justice from me thinking "haha yeah right, sif it's actually going to be THAT warm today..." and not putting on my sunscreen. Silly me. Have also done a bit of after dark going out; went to a restaurant launch/opening event on Tuesday night which was cool. Not what I want my restaurant opening to be like, but was cool to see (plus the open bar always adds a few positive points!). It was like Lord of the Flies though when the free food came out - the restaurant was packed as it was, add food in to the mix with a room full of feral hungry lunatics and the result was a lot of pushing and shoving. Quite disturbing to watch really! St. Patties day we spent at a house party in Brooklyn which was fun times :D Got to meet Gina's cousin Rob and his gf Jen who are really lovely, and some of their friends. Dressed up in cheezey outfits (yay!) and played a few (few too many maybe?) rounds of circle of death.... yaya..... Met up with them again last night for Jay's (one of their friends) birthday at a club in town. Did some dancing, ate some empanadas (one of the guys we met earlier in the evening at Gym bar managed or owned (I forget) an empanada restaurant chain and got us free ones. OMG best empanadas I've ever eaten! Ever!!!!) and had a really fun, slightly messy night! Super cool man sam groove armada fun times had by all methinks! Quiet night tonight and then probably more action (both sightseeing and partying) to be had next week with Mum and Lizy. Weird! But I LOVE IT! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Copan, Honduras

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:38:41 GMT

So we saw our first Mayan ruins yesterday, hurrah! We ended up arriving in Copan at about 9:30, thus rendering the 4am bus ride highly unnecessary. We checked straight into our hostel, which instantly earned it´s $6 as it had hot showers! Oh the luxury. We hit the hay for a power nap after that, and once napped up, we hit the town! It´s really really pretty, and we had a cup of coffee looking over the main square, which ended up being pretty sweaty - it being baking outside. There was this armoured van right in front of us - and by armoured I mean Arnie himself couldn´t have got in, with about 6 armed guards around. But they (obviously) weren´t using the proven safe practice of holding your gun pointed at the floor... These guys point them in your face... And you just know the safety catches won´t be fully functional! We noticed that the police vans here are tuc-tucs whose maximum speed can´t be over 10mph which is just ridiculous - how they assert authority rumbling over the cobbled roads slower than most walkers I don´t know, but it was highly entertaining! So Thursday we spent just exploring the town, drinking licuado´s and generally eating far too much - a good day by all accounts! Friday was supposed to dawn early so that we could hit the ruins before the crowds. Sadly that plan went astray when we slept through the alarm, but seeing as we were both practically the walking dead from exhaustion it was definately a good thing. After a nutritous breakfast of pancakes and coffee, we wandered upto the ruins themselves which only took about 10 minutes, rather than the forecasted 30 - your walking time is somewhat reduced if you´re neither a vertically challenged native, nor an overweight holidaymaker... Once there we managed to haggle a guide for $4 each (it should have been $20) which was an excellent price for an, albeit slightly informal, tour. The buildings were really cool though, and the benefit of having a guide, despite him smelling a tad of alcohol, was that we got to hear all the stories... Like they played a game fairly similiar to football which everyone would watch, and after the match the best player would be sacrificed - an honour everyone wanted apparently! We discovered they were exceedingly bloodthirsty - there were a number of stones whose soul purpose was to hold the recently decapitated head and let the blood trickle down the sides... Very nice. The only thing we felt was that they were a little bit unauthentic, as the actual city had been destroyed by earthquakes about 1000+ years ago and had been rebuilt by archaeologists in an interpretation of what it would have looked like. But it was amazing nevertheless. Looads of squabbling macaws with the most amazing colours in the trees. So after 2 nights in Copan we hopped onto another early bus bound for Utila (yay!) which was to become our favourite destination.

Panajachel, Guatemala

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:10:06 GMT

After a night in Antigua, we headed to Lake Atitlan, infamous for it´s beauty, for a couple of days to relax (not that the past couple of days hadn´t been a delight..), so back to the chicken buses we went. We shot down the road once more, overtaking every other form of vehicle, and flying over the bumps. While waiting to change buses, Mandy attempted ro use a toilet. Well toilet may be a bit of a stretch... Cess pit would suit better. She stepped into the room, and her thong-clad foot went straight into a 2/3 inch puddle of urine! I mean really... Anyway after many more chicken buses, plus the help of a friendly Italian, and a dash across a park we got to Panajachel, a beautiful market town right on the shore of Lake Atitlan. For dinner that night we went to the world´s slowest restaurant - we were waiting for nearly 2 hours! They had yummy licuado´s though, which passed the time nicely. However when the food came, it weren´t so great... Myself and Jason´s were essentially bowls of salt - mine with boiled cream, and his with pasta on the side. I wouldn´t have been surprised had we woken up hungover... There was also this very stange man there, alone, who was devoid of the most basic social skills - he moved over to our table uninvited, and ate food off of Mandy and Jason´s plate! And he would not stop talking, telling us about his divorce, and how he wasn´t aggressive enough... .... The next day Lily woke early, although I use "woke" in the loosest sense of the term possible, having been drifting in and out of consciousness sice the demd rooster started crowing. Literally just give me a sawn off shotgun and 5 minutes...But we hopped up perky, because today was rad bargain attaining, budget blowing day hooray! We trawled the markets all day which was amazing! Lily got lots of delightful items, and subsequently haemmorrhaged money all day, or, as Jason put it "single handledly supported the Guatemalan market stalls." Happily though our haggling hats were firmly on, so these gringoes were saved from being ripped off (for once). We walked down to the water edge where a beautiful sight awaited us... Volcan Atitlan rising high from the lake! It is actually the picture of the front of our guide books. However we discovered that however lovely it may seem, due to the considered unimportance of treating raw sewage/taking care of your country in any way there are parasites in the lake and so swimming is verboten. Dinner that night was deelish, and we were once more surrounded by the usual menagarie of (probably rabies-ridden) pupinas thanks to Mandy´s care for them. We woke on friday early again so that we could make it over to San Pedro - a town on the other side of the lake. It´s a shame we didn´t get here earlier as we would all have loved to stay longer - if only we´d skipped out the disease-ridden Granada! Once in the water taxi we chuttered out from the dock, got about 100m, did a U-turn and back in we went. Quick trip we thought, cutting out the middle man of actually visiting the town! About 8 Mayan woman got piled on, and then off we went again. After they´d got off, the driver told us that they were all going to the dentist. He then revealed that he neither brushes his teeth, nor visits the dentist because "it hurts." Very nice. San Pedro was a really nice little town with massive volcano peaks rising in the distance. We found an amazing coffee shop using locally grown beans which was yummy! We headed back to Panajachel after that to pack up in time for our shuttle back to Antigua - we didn´t think we could face more chicken buses. If we thought it was to be an uneventful ride though we were wrong.. After about half an hour the back bumper fell off, of course. Luckily that happened outside a mechanics, so out he popped and welded it back on, wearing absolutely no protective clothing (need you even ask??). And we passed this pickup truck which had the most ridiculously dangerous set up - there was no back to the trunk bit, just a bar across, and there was a guy chilling out in it on a garden chair! Should there have been an accident, or better yet should the driver brake he´d fly straight out the back into the oncoming traffic! And back we were in Antigua (yay) for a couple of days, which were also our last days with Jason and Mandy sob!

Boston, Massachusetts

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:26:28 GMT

Question: Why is America broke and a vast proprtion of its population overweight (Claude & Zack excluded)?Answer: Because walking is not a word in the American vocabulary...or so we have found to date! In fact it has been replaces quite convieniently with 'Taxi'! Anyway, since our last blog update in LA we were joined by Chris's parents for a fantastic 10 days travelling down the west coast to San Diego, which was a beautiful city. We then drove up to Vegas for a good fews days gambling (no major losses, but no major wins either boo!). We did a road trip to teh Hoover Dam which was interesting and brought back GCSE Geography...not a pleasant thought! Whilst in Vegas we all decided to go and see a vegas show so with the hundreds on offer, we eventually settled on Cirque Du Soleil - Mystere. Now these shows are very expensive, however we were offered 4 show tickets for a bargainess price if we attended a timeshare presentation that would "only last 2 hours"....we agreed and after 4 hours we eventually left the timeshare presentation (without being pressured into purchase unlike so many...). We had managed to point out some pretty huge flaws with their apparently incredible offers and had managed to negotiate the price from $39,000 to $5,800 - Amazing! Anyway after this painful experience we happily got our tickets to teh show and had a great evening at the circus which was worth every penny. At the end of February we left Vegas and the two us flew to Miami where we spent 4 days on South beach. We had chosen this area for its sunny warm climate but our luck has it that we arrived in the coldest winter/ Spring they have had in about 50 years and so we wandered along the beach in thermals! Nice! Not quite the image of Florida we had in mind! Our stay in Miami was far from ideal as we stayed in dorm accommodation and the first night was like a night from teh asylum! We had 6 other guys/animals in the room with us, is stank of BO and one of the guys repeatedly spoke to himself in two different voices in the shower! One guy snored like a demented pig the entire night and another one insisted on peeing with the bathroom door open all the time which our bunk convieniently faced! Nice! That was the end of dorms stays for us - NEVER again! eww. Next stop along our east coast route was Orlando - here we visited Downtown Disney and then hit the Universal Theme parks which were immense! We had great fun on the rollercoastes including their new Rockit Rollercoaster where you got to choose your own personal music as you went round on the road...this was however, drowned out by Jues high pitched screaming/ whaling as we wurled upside down ever few seconds! Ah and here is where our rant begins... after finsihing in the park, we asked one of teh Universal workers whether it was easy to walk to our hotel on International drive from here. His response was "yes, but you can walk to California- it will take at least 2 hours, you should get a taxi!"...we decided we would ignore him and attempt to walk it and 20 minutes later we arrived at our hotel! Now this is not an isolated event, and it appears that Americans do not like to walk very far at all, that is not if there is a taxi rank in a 3 mile radius! AFter Orlando we got the American greyhound to Savannah - an interesting experience as it appears Greyhound USA is not at all like Greyhound Australia in that rather than being filled with backpackers all doing the same thing it is instead full of very poor people and convicts...literally... we watched the State Prison Vans drop the men off and wave them onto our bus all dressed in matching cream trousers and white shirts with a pillow case with their worldly goods in... yikes! Savannah was gorgeous and we had a fantastic time staying with my Granny Claude here. She showed us all the sites and we visited Charleston and did a trolley tour of down town Savannah which was really pretty. We are now on our last stage of our travels and have quick stops left in Niagara, Toronto, Boston and New York and will be returning home to see you all on the 31st March! Cant believe a year has gone so quickly! Hope you have all enjoyed reading our blog and we cant wait to catch up with everyone when we are home. xx

Cape Town, South Africa

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:14:20 GMT

Nach nun fast drei Wochen im schönen Kapstadt und einigen Problemen mit denen wir bisher zu kämpfen hatten, dachten wir uns wir fangen mal mit unserem Blog an.01.03.2010Abfahrt am Klagenfurter Bahnhof um 8:40Uhr in Richtung Frankfurter Flughafen von wo unser Flug über Dubai nach Kapstadt starten sollte. Sollten aus dem Grund, weil es ein paar kleinere Probleme bzgl. des Abfluges gab, aber dazu kommen wir gleich.Nach ca. 10 Stunden Zugfahrt sind wir dann endlich am Frankfurter Flughafen angekommen wo uns ein Freund abgeholt hat, der uns nochmal auf Wiedersehen sagen wollte, weil er uns so fest vermissen wird ;o) An dieser Stelle viele Grüße an Daniel G. und nochmals danke für deine Gesellschaft. Freuen uns schon wenn wir wieder am 2.8. in Frankfurt von dir abgeholt werden. :-)Zum eben angesprochenen Problem beim Abflug unserer Boeing 777. Geplante Abflugzeit war ca. 20:15Uhr und da unser Zug keinerlei Verspätung hatte kamen wir auch rechtzeitig an und konnten noch gemütlich nach dem einchecken einen letzten Kaffee in Europa trinken.Als wir dann durch den Securitycheck gegangen sind, was keine Ahnung wie lange gedauert hatte, da sie wirklich sehr sehr gründlich waren, was wir beide so noch nie erlebt hatten, konnten wir uns für ca. eine halbe Stunde ausruhen, da unser Flug 30 Minuten Verspätung hatte. Aber nichts da, kaum saßen wir am Gate und die Menschenmaßen waren schon dabei die Maschine zu betreten, kam eine Durchsage, dass aus Sicherheitsgründen alle Leute noch einmal die Maschine, sowie das Gate verlassen und noch einmal durch den Securitycheck durch müssen. Daumen hoch sagen wir nur. Immerhin hatten wir ja volle zwei Stunden Aufenthalt am Flughafen in Dubai eingeplant.Naja wie dem auch sei, sind wir dann alle brav wie die Schäfchen wieder raus marschiert und die ersten Leute haben sich bereitwillig wie das Vieh beim Schlachter wieder von vorne am Securitycheck angestellt um die gesamte Prozedur wieder über sich ergehen zu lassen.Grund für den erneuten Check war offensichtlich ein IPod der bei einem Fluggast im Handgepäck nicht korrekt durch den Scanner erkannt wurde, die Person aber trotzdem durch den Check gekommen ist und dann irgendwer auf die Idee gekommen ist, zur Sicherheit nochmal alle Leute zu checken. Ein kleiner Trost, die Belegschaft und vor allem die Person am Check durften auch Überstunden schieben und wir waren nicht die einzigen die das ganze etwas angenervt hat.Während sich also zwischen 200 und 300 Menschen am Securitycheck angestellt haben, haben wir beide uns erst mal nieder gesetzt und uns mit unseren Laptops bzw. in meinem Fall mit dem ISAP Skript beschäftigt. Jaja, das lässt mich nicht mehr so schnell los. ;)Nach ca. zwei Stunden sind wir dann als quasi Letzte durch den Securitycheck gegangen und konnten direkt durch ins Flugzeug starten. Auf Nachfrage wurde uns versichert, dass unser Anschlussflugzeug in Dubai auf uns warten wird, was dann auch so war. Unsere Sitznachbarn im Flieger von Frankfurt nach Dubai hatten dann auch gleich gefragt, ob wir denn nun endlich die letzten wären und ob es gleich losgeht. Die "armen" waren wahrscheinlich eine der ersten die wieder im Flugzeug saßen und mussten dann 2 Std länger im Flugzeug ausharren.Anschließend konnten wir uns an einem ca. 8 Std langen Flug nach Dubai, ein anschließendes direktes Besteigen der nächsten Maschine in Richtung Kapstadt und einen noch längeren Flug von ca. 12 Std erfreuen.Insgesamt waren wir ca. 30 Stunden von Klagenfurt bis Kapstadt unterwegs. Aber dafür haben wir unsere schmale Reisekasse etwas bei den Tickets geschont. ;)Gegen 16:30 Uhr sind wir dann in Kapstadt angekommen und wurden auch gleich von unserem Betreuer am Flughafen abgeholt. Er hat uns dann zu unserer provisorischen Unterkunft in einem Hostel im Stadtzentrum gefahren. Wir hatten uns in ein 8 Bett Dorm eingemietet und eigentlich damit gerechnet, dass wir in ca. einer Woche eine Wohnung, sowie ein gebrauchtes Auto uns besorgen werden.Leider kommt es ja oft anders und meistens als man denkt und daher mussten wir zwei mal unsere Bleibe im Hostel um ein paar Tage verlängern.Alles in allem hat die Wohnungssuche gut eine Woche gedauert, da uns die Orte an denen wir eigentlich dachten bzw. gehört haben es wären richtige Studentenviertel so mal überhaupt nicht gefallen hatten. Dies ist uns leider erst nach ein paar Tagen Recherche aufgefallen, als wir die ersten beiden Wohnungsbesichtigungen hatten. Eine Wohnung war an sich ganz OK, bis eben die Umgebung, aber die andere war sprichwörtlich einfach nur ein Loch und oben drein auch noch ein geteiltes Loch, da es nur Doppelzimmer gab. Dafür waren die Zimmer aber fully furnished, was heißt komplett möbliert. In diesem eben angesprochenen Loch hab es außer zwei schimmeligen und mit Flecken übersähten Matratze, noch eine Spanplatte die wohl als Schreibtisch fungieren sollte, sowie ein bis zwei Plastikgartenstühle in der Funktion eines Schreibtischstuhles. Sonst gab es noch einen großen alten Holzschrank. Mit etwas Glück hat man ein Zimmer mit Fenster bekommen, da es ca acht solcher Räume gab, aber nicht alle frei waren.Wenigstens wäre der Preis *Ironie* OK gewesen, nämlich nur 150,- € pro Kopf. Also bei uns wüsste ich nicht, dass man für den Knast auch noch Geld abdrücken muss. Aber andere Länder andere Sitten. ;o)Ein weiteres, wenn nicht sogar das Hauptproblem bei der Wohnungssuche war die Tatsache, dass es einfach so gut wie keine Angebote für zwei Einzelzimmer in einem Haus/Apartment gab. Alle Angebote waren eigentlich immer nur für eine Person und nicht für zwei, oder es handelte sich um Doppelzimmer, was wir beide uns aber nicht gegenseitig für fünf Monate an tun wollten. ;o)wie dem auch sei, da uns der gesamte Suburb der ersten beiden Unterkünfte mal so überhaupt nicht gefallen hatte, da es in dem versprochenen Studentenviertel mit vielen Restaurants und Kneipen, eigentlich nur eine kleine Straße gab in der ca. drei oder vier Kneipen vorhanden waren und uns auch sonst so mal überhaupt nichts in dem Gebiet gefallen hat, haben wir beschlossen die kommenden Tage in anderen Stadtgebieten Ausschau zu halten.Von einem Oberösterreicher, der bei uns mit im Büro an der UCT sitzt, haben wir erfahren dass es im Norden einen schönen Stadtteil direkt am Strand gibt. Man muss zwar ca. eine halbe Stunde Autofahrt pro Weg einplanen, was es uns aber absolut wert war, wenn uns dafür wenigstens der Vorort gefällt.Nachdem wir dann zwei weitere Tage Internet- sowie Zeitungsrecherche betrieben haben, hatten wir uns einen straffen Zeitplan zusammengestellt in dem wir an einem Tag uns 6 Apartments in Blouberg, so heißt das Viertel, anschauen wollten.Dazu haben wir uns für ca. 35,- € einen Mietwagen für einen Tag geliehen und sind dann hoch in das uns noch unbekannte Viertel gefahren.Der Tag fing schon semi perfekt an, da unser erstes Appointment welches um 11Uhr stattfinden sollte, auf unseren Anruf hin erst einmal meinte "Wie um 11?, Die Besitzerin hat erst um 16:30Uhr Zeit.".... Guter Start würde man sagen.Was noch witzig zu erwähnen wäre, ist dass wir auch einen Vermieter in Milnerton, dass ist ein Viertel zwischen Blouberg und Cape Town angerufen haben um einen Termin auszumachen, er aber meinte, ob wir denn wissen wo sein Flat liegt und als wir dies verneinten meinte, ob wir überhaupt das Gebiet vor Ort kennen und als wir auch dies verneinten, sagte er nur ganz trocken, wir sollen uns doch erst einmal vor Ort umschauen und wenn wir dann immer noch Interesse haben, sollen wir uns noch einmal bzgl. eines Besichtigungstermines bei ihm melden. Ja das macht Lust auf mehr. ;o) Wenn das schon der Vermieter der ja eigentlich etwas "verkaufen" will einem potenziellen "Käufer" sagt. heheWie dem auch sei haben wir dann auch erst einmal Abstand von dieser Wohnung genommen und uns die restlichen alle angeschaut.Eines, für das wir uns am Ende auch entschieden haben (siehe Bilder) hat uns sofort sehr gut gefallen. Auch der Preis ist mehr als in Ordnung. Für 4700 Rand, was ca. 470,- € entspricht haben wir uns jetzt hier eingemietet.Eine andere Wohnung, welche auch mehr als nur OK gewesen wäre, lag quasi direkt d.h. 50m vom Strand weg. Leider lief die Wohnung aber über eine Agentur, welche den Vermietern den Floh ins Ohr gesetzt hat, dass wir vor der Weltmeisterschaft im Juni ausziehen müssen, weil sie dann die Wohnung an Fußballfans für einen viel höheren Preis vermieten wollen. Somit war auch dieses "Angebot" hinfällig.Nichts desto weniger haben wir uns für unsere kleine aber feine Wohnung entschieden und es bisher auch nicht bereut. Wir haben zwar beide ca. zwei volle Tage die Wohnung und insbesondere die Küche sowie das Bad grundreinigen müssen, da die Vormieterin wohl nicht zu den saubersten unter diesem Planeten gehört hat. Wir sind also am Freitag den 12.03. endlich aus dem 8 Bett dorm in unser trautes zwei Zimmer Apartment ziehen. :-)Nachdem also die Wohnungssuche abgehakt war und wir noch ca. eine Woche vor unserem Einzugstermin Zeit hatten, ging es diesmal an die Gebrauchtwagensuche. Dies hat sich schlussendlich als noch schwieriger herausgestellt, da wir beide mal so überhaupt keinen Plan von Autos haben und obendrein natürlich auch noch niemanden kennen der uns in dieser Hinsicht unterstützen könnte. Also haben wir beschlossen und ein Auto per Internet/ Zeitung auszusuchen und dann mit diesem zum AA, dass ist quasi wie der TÜV bei uns zu fahren um es für ca. 65,- € komplett durchchecken zu lassen.Nach unzähligen, wirklich unzähligen Telefonaten, welche im Übrigen extrem teuer in Südafrika sind, wir haben beide locker 40,- € in den ersten beiden Wochen nur aufgrund der Wohnungs- und Autosuche vertelefoniert.Aber zurück zum AA, der übrigens irgendwie mit der Dekra zusammengehört. Nachdem wir also endlich mal zwei potenziell interessante Autos gefunden hatten, ein VW Jetta BJ 1995 und ein alter Mercedes BJ 1989, haben wir den Besitzern mitgeteilt, dass wir mit dem Auto gerne zum AA fahren würden um es auf Herz und Nieren checken zu lassen.Im Falle des VW war es überhaupt kein Problem, außer dass wir zweimal den Termin beim AA verschieben mussten und als wir dann endlich einen geeigneten Termin gefunden hatten, der Typ nicht aufgetaucht ist. Daraufhin haben wir ihn angerufen um zu fragen wo er denn bleibt und er meinte nur etwas in gebrochenem Englisch davon, dass er nicht konnte, der er gerade auf der Polizeiwache war, sie seine Fingerabdrücke genommen hatten und er jetzt gerade vom Hof der Polizei weg fährt, aber er lieber hätte wenn wir den Wagen erst einmal vor Ort bei ihm anschauen kommen würden.... OK, somit war die Sache für uns gestorben, nicht nur, dass es nicht gerade einen vertrauenserweckenden Eindruck macht, wenn er nicht zu einem Termin erscheint, weil er Fingerabdrücke bei der Polizei geben muss, sondern auch der Ärger, dass wir bereits drei Termine für den Wagen beim AA gemacht hatten und uns langsam die Zeit davon läuft um ein Auto zu finden. Dies war also der Fall des VW.Im Falle des Mercedes war es einfacher. Nachdem es also nicht mit dem VW geklappt hatte, haben wir noch einmal den Mercedes kontaktiert um ihn zu fragen ob ein Meeting beim AA für ihn OK wäre. Er fing darauf hin an laut zu fluchen und zu schimpfen und meinte etwas von, dass die beim AA ja nur Fehler beim Auto suchen.... Was zugegebenermaßen auch der Grund war wieso wir mit dem Auto zum AA fahren wollten. ;) Wir haben uns ja kein perfektes Auto für unser kleines Budget erwartet, aber zumindest eines in das wir in den kommenden fünf Monaten hoffentlich nichts in Reparaturen stecken müssen.Jetzt hatten wir erst einmal die Schnauze voll vom Auto suchen und dachten es wäre vielleicht doch keine so schlechte Idee zum Händler zu fahren und dort mal zu schauen, was es so im Angebot gibt.Nach längerem hadern hatten wir uns dann für einen alten 3er BMW 318i von 1991 bei diesem Händler entschieden. Auf Nachfrage bestätigte er uns dass der Wagen das Roadworthy Certificate (RWC) besitzt, welches jeder Wagen bei der An- bzw. Ummeldung benötigt und gegen einen Besuch beim AA hatte er auch nichts. Also Probefahrt gemacht, den Wagen zuvor mit unserem Laienwissen begutachtet und bisher alles super gewesen.Wir also einen Termin beim AA, bei dem uns die Dame schon kannte, da wir zuvor ja schon mal einen Termin hatten zu dem der gute Besitzer nicht aufgetaucht ist, für den nächsten Tag ausgemacht, da vorher leider nichts mehr frei war.Also gleich am nächsten Morgen zum Händler den Wagen holen und ab zum AA. Nach ca. 4 Stunden Wartezeit war das Gutachten fertig und quasi niederschmetternd. Erstes Kommentar des Gutachters, der Wagen sei gar nicht Roadworthy und als wir entgegneten, dass uns der Händler dies aber versichert hatte, zeigte er uns eine Plakette welche auf der Windschutzscheibe klebt, auf der das Datum der letzten RWC Prüfung draufsteht. Dieses war wie der Gutachter richtig bemerkte nicht mehr aktuell. Zugegenermaßen war es nicht mal semi aktuell. Das Datum der letzten Prüfung war irgendwann im Jahre 2000 und somit nicht ganz in den gültigen sechs Monaten die das RWC immer ab der Prüfung gültig ist...Aufgrund dieser Fehlschläge mussten wir unser erstes Meeting von Freitag in der University of Cape Town (UCT) erst einmal auf nächste Woche verschieben. Da wir keine Möglichkeit hatten ohne Auto von unserer neuen Bleibe zur UCT zu kommen.Also hieß es weiter schauen. Haben dann eine aktuelle Announce im Internet für einen Toyota Conquest (bei uns wurde das Model als Corolla geführt) BJ 1999, 55KW, 127.000km inklusive einem 2 Wochen alten RWC entdeckt. Nicht lange gefackelt, hin zu dem Verkäufer, der zufällig nur 4km von unserer Wohnung entfernt wohnt und den Wagen angeschaut, probe gefahren und schlussendlich gekauft. Naja "gekauft", leider konnten wir nicht die 30.000 Rand (3000,- €) vom Bankomat ziehen, da wir am gleichen Tag schon die erste Miete, sowie die Kaution für unsere Wohnung vom ATM geholt hatten und wir beide somit über unserem Tageslimit lagen.Somit haben wir das ganze auf den nächsten Tag verschoben und dann schlussendlich am Sonntag den 14.03. unser Auto bekommen. :-)Nachdem also unsere beiden Projekte Wohnung und Auto zwar mit einer Woche Verzögerung, aber dennoch erfolgreich abgeschlossen waren, stand einem ersten Besuch am Montag den 15.03. auf der UCT nichts mehr im Wege.Also wurde ein Projektmeeting mit unserem Betreuer an der UCT einberufen, in dem er uns sechs neue Projekte vorgeschlagen hatte, von denen wir uns jeder eines aussuchen konnten.Anschließend haben wir uns mit zwei Studienkollegen, Stefan und Konstantin aus Niederösterreich und Rob einem Südafrikaner mit polnischen Eltern ein Rugby spiel der UCT Mannschaft gegen die Uni Stellenbosch angeschaut. Wie hoch die UCT gewonnen hat ist uns nicht genau bekannt, da wir in der zweiten Halbzeit beschlossen haben den wärmenden Pub aufzusuchen, da es Nachts/Abends doch schon recht kalt ist mittlerweile in Cape Town und wir nur kurze Hosen und T-Shirts dabei hatten, da es nicht wirklich geplant war, solange auf der Uni zu verweilen.Die folgende Woche wurde dann hauptsächlich mit putzen, einkaufen, Internetanschluss, was wieder ein eigenes Projekt in Südafrika ist, sowie mit lesen jeder Menge Papers über die verschiedenen Projekte verbracht.Am Freitag wurde dann nochmal ein Projektmeeting abgehalten, in denen auch die anderen zwei von drei (einer hatte es wohl verpeilt) Studenten kurz ihre Projekte vorgestellt haben.

Xi'An, China

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:42:20 GMT

Exhausted from a day of extreme tourism! After an orientation meeting reminding us about i-to-i's aims of meaningful travel and reassuring us that our money does go somewhere (I love how even the company director anticipates that every volunteer is going to be sceptical about its economic efficiency) and another yummy Chinese lunch (already getting a bit bored of rice though), we had the bright idea of walking to the centre of Xi'An. We were advised to get the bus or a taxi, since our apartment is a considerable distance from the city walls, but I somehow allowed myself to be persuaded that walking was a great idea. Two and a half hours later, we did eventually reach the walls that surround Xi'An's supposedly ancient centre (in reality it's a lot of utilitarian blocks, shopping malls and multiple Starbucks outlets), having acrued a Chinese stalker. He definitely didn't speak English and he'd followed us pretty much the whole way, without us being able to discern whether he was trying to help us or just had nothing better to do all day than ogle some British tourists. We somehow managed to shake him off amongst the clusters of old people on the streets playing a game that looked like Mahjong tiles (but maybe I've spent too long playing games on Windows 7?). Map-reading not being one of my, nor any of the other volunteers', proficiencies, it took some considerable effort to find the most famous landmarks of Xi'An, the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower. They didn't look quite how they do in the pictures - a lot less colourful and slightly dull against the backdrop of Xi'An's polluted skies. We then headed to the Muslim quarter by way of a psychadelic arcade with some crazy games (we spent a lot of time watching a Chinese guy play a form of Rock Band with a full size drum kit, he was incredible). The Muslim Quarter featured some amazing road-side food stalls, making it a real effort to stick to one of the main tenets of travelling, not to eat anything from a street vendor, and a lot of stalls selling fake designer goods, where paying anything above the third of a price is a definite no-no. I found myself very tempted to buy a kimono (or Chinese equivalent) but have held back until I locate a suitable space in my rucksack. Sapped from our epic walk to and around the city, we attempted to find somewhere to have dinner - a surprisingly difficult task! After a fatigued wander around the main streets, we settled for Papa John's pizza, which was at least a welcome change from all the rice. And pizza in China is even better and cheaper than pizza at home! After dinner and many hours in the city centre we were definitely ready to come home, but the walk no longer seemed a tempting proposition as the skies began to darken, though Xi'An looks much more beautiful at night. With all the trees, the Bell and Drum towers and the city gates lit up, Xi'An takes on a glamour that certainly evades it during the day. However, even the newfound sheen of the city could not long distract from the crazily long time it took for us to try to hail a taxi. Many empty cabs drove straight past us, despite our frantic waving, apparently unwilling to take foreigners. Some officials (well they were wearing reflective jackets anyhow) attempted to help us and albeit reassuring that the locals found it an impossible task as well, after half an hour we were more than a little frustrated! In the end Ruth literally had to jump into a taxi when it stopped to force him to take us home. Still, the journey only cost about £1.20 which made it sort of worthwhile! Back home we visited a Chinese supermarket for a few vital provisions (read, Oreos) and then relaxed for a few super-competitive games of cards and even some magic tricks, whilst a strange Chinese version of Prison Break provided some background entertainment in the form of some scantily clad male prisoners getting angry about something I obviously couldn't understand. It's now gone midnight and I'm more than ready to sleep. Thanks very much to anyone who has bothered to read this long entry and hope everyone is well at home!

Still At Home :), UK

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:36:21 GMT

Hey people, its kellyJust thought id better write what we will be doing when we first leave :)On the 4th April we depart Heathrow and head to Entebbe, Uganda to begin our 42-day Rivers of Africa tour. This safari will see us pass through Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. We will be seeing plenty of animals on this journey including giraffes, elephants, rhinos. lions, zebras, hippotamus, gorillas, chimpanzees, cheetahs & leopards if we're really lucky!We will also have the opportunity to do various insane things like bungee jumping and white water rafting! We will be finishing the tour on the 16th May and we will then be travelling on to Johannesburg stopping off in Botswana to see Chobe National Park.The next thing on our itinery is 2 weeks volunteering at a game reserve in Port Elizabeth where we can do various things such as assisting at the elephant sanctuary & game tracking. At some point in these 2 weeks i will be back on to update and blog our travels further. Following the game reserve we head to Cape Town where we are going cage diving with great white sharks...not too sure why i agreed to this?! INSANEEEEE!! And then before leaving Africa to go to Singapore we stop off in Port Elizabeth again as i do believe there is a football world cup happening. and yes, we do have tickets to a match! :) Portugal Vs Ivory Coast...should be a good'un! We then head back to Jo'burg and jet off on the next part of our RTW trip. Thank you for all your support!!Lots of loveK&K

Agra, India

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:16:42 GMT

Ok so, I said I'd put up photos this entry but again totally forgot to bring my camera from the hotel (don't worry it's under lock and key and padlocked in my bag which is padlocked to the bathroom door!!!)next time I will definitely put some up as have got some pretty cool ones of the Taj Mahal and various other bits and bobs... So since last time we've left Delhi and moved to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. the three hour journey was surprisingly stress free, although New Delhi station is a bit mental and when we first got into our carriage (3rd class AC, actually not too bad as not all the seats around us were taken so just us and a couple of indian guys in the carriage) we did get a bit a eve teasing from this water wallah...he kept trying to make us buy bottled water and when we ignored him he kept stroking Jade's arm and nudging her with a water bottle and then did the same to me- that is until we threatened to call the Tourist Police, haha!!anyway, as I said pretty stress free apart from that. Saw some interesting sights on the way to Agra including what looked like a brick works, ladies doing their washing on the railway line and lots of animals including buffalo, cows, pigs and goats. Got to Agra station ok and got a prepaid (set price) autorickshaw with a guy called Ali (nice middle aged man, though with almost comically bad teeth-really brown and sticky out, and I thought mine were bad!) to our hotel. Chilled out last night and watched the gorgeous view from the rooftop cafe, the sun setting over the Taj Mahal isn't the worst sight in the world anyway!! Today we got up at the crack of dawn, though as soon as we turned on the light there was a power cut for 10mins before the generator kicked in, good thing we had torchesas it's been happening a fair bit since we got here!!got the the Taj around 6.30 and paid the 750R entry fee (pretty steep even by our standards at over a tenner) to see the 7th wonder of the world itself, and it definitely didn't disappoint. What you can't see from any of the pictures is how much detail has gone into it, it's actually inlaid with precious stones which were (and still are) handcut to fit the design. Also, it's totally symmetrical with 4 gates (North, East, South and West) and lovely peaceful gardens surround it. A real feat of the Mughal era, it seems amazing that it was built in just 25 (I think!) years because of how much attention to detail there is! the rest of the day was spent on an autorickshaw tour with crazy Ali who we'd hired from yesterday. Agra is quite different from Delhi in that although the roads are still absolutely crazy with about 4 lanes of traffic (cycle and auto rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles and cars as well as buffalo and horse drawn carts, hand carts etc etc), it's not quite as smoggy and there is definitely more of a country feel to the place, with absolutely loads of cows, donkeys and goats about the place. Also, open sewers on the roads near where we are staying provide a treat (or rather not) for the sense... breathing through your mouth is an absolute must! Sights we saw today included the baby taj (some tomb of another Mughal leader who I can't recall the name of but it was built before the Taj and is basically a smaller version but also very pretty), Mehtabh Bagh which is a garden type area on the other side of th Jamuna river where you get an interesting view of the Taj from behind and the Agra fort, a Mughal stronghold that has been home over the centuries to many different rulers as well as the British and now is a Unesco world heritage site. Pretty funny when we were there, this whole family (little baby boy included)wanted to have their pictures taken with us, and we had to just sit there while they all took turns posing. the Little boy was having none of it but his mum insisted that he sit still and try to look happy while we posed awkwardly with him in between. Poor thing! We also did a spot of browsing in some shops, in particular a marble work shop where we were shown the techniques used to put the decorative stones in the Taj which are still used today. We might of spent a bit of money on some souvenirs too, though are haggling went pretty well!!We also went to a jewellers where they had beautiful wall-hangings embroidered with gold thread and precious stones, I nearly laughed out loud when the guy tried to make us buy a wall hanging that cost about 180 pounds, but it was all really amazing stuff and a shame we aren't both millionaires!! One negative today, so far we had avoided being bitten by mossies but today I got bitten twice on my feet. Hopefully this isn't a sign that the mosquitos love me because I don't think I could deal with that, I already stink of mossie repellant and don't really want to move onto any more potent stuff! Anyway, on to Jaipur tomorrow, the Pink City. up early for our 5 hour train journey at 7.40am, it's gonna be a long day!! Love from Agra xxxx

Koh Samuie, Thailand

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:04:16 GMT

Vi sitter på ett resort bredvid och tar en drink så vi kan surfa gratis. idag har vi varit på Koh Samuis absolut finaste strand Lipa Noi. Helt vindstilla, lite folk och en bra restaurang. Vi ska dit igen på måndag och då kör vi hela dagen och middag på John Seafood. igårkväll åt vi så himla god Lobster på Baracuda. Det är bland det bästa vi ätit. Efteråt gick vi hem till Göran och Inga-lill och drack kaffe och tog en stänkare. Göran hade kokat stora räkor igen och ville att vi skulle äta upp dom - det gjorde vi!!! Jättegott!! Vid midnatt tog vi moppen hem igen och denna gång bor vi nära så vi var hemma på 25 min. Ikväll ska vi göra Lamai och det finns många barer med MÅNGA tjejer här så Lasse kommer att få fullt upp. kram kram

Cairns, Queensland

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:35:11 GMT

So... Have travelled quite far since last blog but this one will be short at last! After Perth went to Ayers Rock. Not via Alice Springs but straight to Yulara, the 'Ayers Rock Resort' about 20km from Uluru (the rock we all know) itself. It was raining. But bright red mud is at least as interesting to experience as red earth and dust. The ground in the Red Centre really is terracotta red, but also does have a surprising amount of vegetation on it, so that from ground level the angle makes it look abundantly pale green. The second day I got up in time to see dawn from Kata Tjuta, another set of rocks about 40km from Uluru, the biggest of which is in fact larger than Uluru. a stunning, computer game style sunset happened, as did hundreds of blowflies! Did a four hour walk through Kata Tjuta that was brilliantly rewarding, looking like the Cradle of Civilisation especially because of its location in the middle of the desert. Lots of lush green plants tucked between the massive plasticine-like rocks and even a stream going through it all! It rained that day too. The evening and next morning were spent bumming around the resort area, reading a avoiding the heat - at last! Bruce Chatwin's 'The Songlines' kept me company, telling about invisible pathways the run all across Australia, created by the creators of the land thousands of years ago. The pathways are also songs, as these ancestors sang everything into existence as they went, so modern aboriginals can follow these pathways to their kin if they know the songs! Helped explain things a bit when I went on an aboriginal-guided tour to Uluru in the evening, as they have lots of stories related to the rock (stories known as Dreamings) that revolve around these original ancestors. The tour was good and after we joined about 200 other people for champagne and nibbles at the sunset viewing spot. This was kind of indicative of the kind of comfort it was necessary to live in at the resort, which Ifelt was a big shame. I'd wanted a deserty, creation story-riddled couple of days there but had to settle for this. At least there was an all-you-can-eat buffet to get my money's worth from! So now in Cairns and it's party town! I've been out to the pubs and clubs a bit and also lazed by the Lagoon, a man-made wimming pool by the edge of the sea, which unfortunately is so poorly serviced with water that it's mud flats more often thatn not. I went to the botanical gardens which were interesting - Alex/Heather/Ian/Tilda...can't remember if any of you made it here and to the gardens but you would have gone wild! Lots of rainforest plants growing wildly and beautiful in its own way. I've traded Bruce Chatwin for Charles Darwin (rebelling against the lack of culture in Cairns perhaps?) so will see how A Tale of Two Cities hits me by the pool tomorrow. I've also used a hangover day to watch a film, Crazy Heart, but today I went scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef! Had masses of time out swimming around with a fun crew and plenty of good food! Was a bit choppy so snorkelling wasn't very successful but under da sea I saw sea cucumbers, bright blue starfish, thorny blue coral, big round brain-like coral, angel fish, a large wrass, jellyfish and some lovely clown fish in their anemone. Lots of different coloured fishes and also coral and odd to survive underwater for such a long time. Was a great experience I won't forget and writing this I still feel like I'm swaying around! So continuing to chill out in Oz and looking forward to going to Sydney on Monday, and not a little excited about seeing Isey and other friends in Christchurch after that! I hope you're all well and enjoying March. It's going to be beautifully sunny and a comfortable 30 degrees here tomorrow :) Till next time...lots of love, Dave