Oh, How I Wish I Were Travelling....

My new life in NZ

2009-05-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone from rainy Dunedin! We've been here just over a week and I'm just starting to get the hang of this weather.....

We flew out last Saturday and we weren't nervous at all. Plenty of people have been asking how we felt, but I think we both felt excitement, relief and joy, but definitely no nerves or trepidation! Mum and Dad on the other hand....... will probably wonder where all that extra food, money and spare time is coming from now! We landed in Dunedin (direct flight - yeah!) in the afternoon and the weather was about 5 degrees and calm. It wasn't so bad but in hindsight I think we counted out chickens a bit too early. The weather only got colder over the next few days as we rediscovered the magic of electric blankets and thermal underwear. But as soon as Pete started work, the weather seemed to fine up and I was mostly quite happy for the rest of the week and the weekend just gone.... but just as I started to think that this place wasn't so cold after all... a cold front has just swept through this afternoon and up at Macraes where Pete's working, it's snowing hard and they're worried they might be stuck there tonight!

Other than the weather, which seems to take up a substantial part of the news each night, for now-obvious reasons, I've been cruising around the shops in my current role of hausfrau. The supermarkets here are by and large just like supermarkets anywhere else in the world, but I have been very excited by the weekend farmers' markets held on the platform of Dunedin's historic train station. The leeks, the venison, the spuds, and oh, the lamb! All so fresh and delicious. I'm a little hampered at the moment by our sparsely-equipped temporary kitchen but already I've prepared some really yummy meals.

The knives that were initially provided in our kitchen were woefully blunt, so we splashed out $7.99 for a sharper Wiltshire knife at the supermarket. It was certainly sharper, but only enough to lull me into a false sense of security. The other night I nearly sliced the tip of my ring finger off trying to chop potatoes... actually the incident was almost identical to the one in Tom Price where I saw ligaments, a lot of blood and my own bone mometarily! Budget or no budget, I decided the very next day to really splash out on a knife and I came home with a much sharper, much safer Scanpan knife.

As well as trying to amputate my digits, I'm also trying to find work, a house for us to live in, and another car. The details of all of the above are unfortunately closely related and I feel quite overwhelmed at the thought of sorting it all out. Hyphen, the cat-that-won't-die is also coming over here to live once we have a permenant residence, which I suppose provides motivation to get our housing situation sorted out soon.

I've included a couple of photos of our apartment for all to see, it's nothing exciting and it's actually quite grubby, but you can't see that in the photos. The floor needs a good mop but they havne't provided us with one. It's quite small but it does get a nice dose of sunshine throughout the day, on the days when the sun decides to peek out from behind the clouds, of course. That last photo is the view from our front window. We're in a slightly dodgy part of town, but the architecture is still beautiful!

I'm off to prepare some scraps for dinner tonight - big shopping day tomorrow! Pete is on his break as of tomorrow and he can help me carry it all back from town in this antarctic gale! Hope you're all well. x

BIG NEWS! WE'RE MOVING TO NZ!

2009-04-22T23:07:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's been a while since I've blogged and so much has happened. We've had a few short trips away to Ballarat and Coolum, but the biggest and best place we have been is on a site visit to Dunedin, New Zealand! And it was successful so in less than a month, we'll be New Zealand residents. So far only Pete has a job, but we're thankful just for one job in such an uncertain economic climate. There will be plenty to do once we arrive too, so it may well be handy if one of us is available for the removalists, bank accounts, picking up the car and finding a house. Pete has accepted an offer as a Mine Geologist at Macraes, a gold mine owned by Oceanagold. It's about an hour north of Dunedin.

Dunedin is a beautiful place, not too big but with all the amenities you might ever need. It even has direct flights in winter to Brisbane! By road it's about five hours to Christchurch and three and a half hours to Queenstown. Pete will be doing an 8/6 roster, and with the long hours, we've decided to live just north of Dunedin so he can be close to work. The beaches in Dunedin are just beautiful (although quite wild, cold and windy) and there is so much to do around the town. There's trout fishing (Pete reckons he's going to learn how to smoke them), awesome bushwalking (or should I say 'tramping'?) on the Otago peninsula, skiing in winter at Queenstown and some mouth-watering farmers' markets each weekend.

I've put some photos below so you can see what it looks like and what we got up in our spare time over there. We're thinking of moving to either Waikouaiti or Karitane, two little beach towns about half an hour north of the city centre. The photos above are of the area around these towns. Below are some photos from Sandfly Bay on the Otago Peninsula. We went there to see yellow-eyed penguins late one afternoon but saw something larger and scarier instead!

On to other things, we have been to quite a few weddings so far this year. Since the last post we've been to Booreen Point for my brother's wedding, Ballarat for Ben and Rhiannon's wedding, and to Coolum last weekend for Boon and Georgie's wedding. All were lovely and we relished the chance to break away from the centrelink-enforced drudgery of continuous job-hunting. It seems however that it must be wedding season, perhaps there's been something in the water? Although I'm thrilled for all our friends that have found happiness in each other, I'll breathe a huge sigh of relief when it's all over later this year. Although as an afterthought I do quite like the excuse to go shopping for new dresses!

Peter and Jasmine's wedding was so lovely, in fact one of the nicest weddings I've been to. Jasmine and Peter both looked so lovely, and the food was good, the music was fun, and the speeches quite funny. It was the first time I'd ever acted as MC at a wedding so I was quite nervous. I had last minute doubts about my dress on the day of the wedding and made mum come with me on a mad dash to Sunshine Plaza to find a new one. I don't have many pics of the day yet, since I can't find the cord to connect my Nikon to the computer. You can see most of the ones I have on facebook already.

Ballarat was lovely, and seeing as neither of us had been there before, we quite enjoyed exploring the region with Dools and Jen. The food was excellent and we even squeezed in a trip to an organic winery at Daylesford. The cheese they had was excellent too, and we would have brought some back home if it didn't stink to high heaven. The stinkier the cheese, the better the taste, I say! We also enjoyed catching up with my friend Meredith for lunch at Southbank in Melbourne on the way through. Ben and Rhiannon's wedding was really lovely, and the ceremony was short but sweet. The reception was also fun and I really loved the speeches. Some of them were really nice, and some of them were so funny! And Rhiannon's shoes were cute! Pink cowgirl boots......

We also had an awesome time at Coolum for Boon and Georgie's wedding. I felt terrible the day after the ceremony but I suppose that means I had a good time the night before. The Saturday of their wedding was the first chance we'd had to celebrate Pete's job since finding out about it so we made sure we partied hard. I was ridiculoulsy happy when the DJ played 'Slice of Heaven'; in all seriousness I'm still so happy that NZ has given us a chance. Pete made sure he partied extra hard again at the recovery party and made things difficult for himself that night. I went out for dinner with everyone while he slept off the champagne! Again, I have more pics on my Nikon, so these few will have to do until I get that sorted.

Well that's enough rambling for now, enjoy the pics and don't hesitate to email if you want to find out more about our move to NZ. It seems everyone has a million questions and I can't think of everything you might need to know right now. JMx

A Week In Sydney..... Finally Some Photos!

2009-02-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone, it's a bit late, but here's some pics from my stay in Sydney on the way back from Broome. I stayed with my Auntie Tina in Kingsford, and although I had grand plans to spend some time with Pete and his family while I was there, it didn't quite work out. To keep busy I tried one of the council's suggested walks. I tackled the 20km stretch from Clovelly to La Perouse and did it easy in about four and a half hours. In fact I probably should have taken less time, but the track definition gets a little sketchy around the golf courses, and it actually disappeared once I got to the southern-most headland.

Tina and Rick took me out and about while I was there too, to a couple of jazz gigs, and to the Souths Leagues club to see the Choirboys' tribute to the Easybeats! We had a great night and had a great time watching the grannies rocking out to the music. I finally met Tina's friend Melinda after a few years of 'you've met Melinda, haven't you?', and totally loved her Ed Hardy dress. I want one... in fact I walked past the store on Edward street only last week. Just wait til I get some money!

Speaking of money, Pete and I have just about run out and we are eight weeks into dealing with Centrelink. In between filling out forms and waiting for phonecalls from them, we've been applying for the few mining jobs still left out there. I have had a few stop-start experiences with Newcrest, who seem a bit unsure about whether or not to hire people at the moment. I had a Dilbert moment with them the other day when I called them back to find out what was happening with a re-application. The poor HR guy said, 'Oh, we haven't called you back because you haven't been unsuccessful yet. You don't need to re-apply for that position.' This was after I'd been told by a different department that I was unsuccessful and my online application status had been changed to 'unsuccessful'. I'm confused.... And to add insult to injury I've been formally turned down for a job at Coles. I'm not sure why but maybe I should have put some spelling mistakes in my CV and left out the bits about a tertiary education? I'm now starting to think about some medium-term alternatives like a barista course, a floristry course (my other not-so-secret ambition) and a Dip Ed.

Pete has a site visit to Cannington Mine on Tuesday this week. We think (with our powers of deduction and a little inside information) that he's down to the last three or four candidates. Family, friends, and certainly my frustrated parents have our fingers crossed that all goes well this week.

We're currently house-sitting for Angie and Kas, who are on a whirlwind tour of Japan. I can't wait to see their photos and hear their stories when they get back: Japan's at the top of my wishlist. Their cats are a scream, between the three of them we might have a few more grey hairs coming our way. Mooks went missing for a few days, then turned up just as we started to panic. And Snowii has been keen to wake us up in the morning for breakfast. And Randy has taken quite a liking to sitting inside, something that the other two abhor.

We are going up to Booreen Point this Thursday for my brother Peter's wedding, which sounds like it will be a lot of fun. No doubt Jasmine will look lovely too. Mum and Dad have booked a big house on the lake-front for us and the rest of the extended family to stay in. Pete and I are taking some sleeping mats because we're anticipating a bed shortage..

Finally, I here are another couple of photos: The first is of Pete with his gorgeous niece Anna on her christening day. She's totally captivated by his stories about the Cameroon Football Team's logo. It was a such a funny trip, Pete was convinced he wouldn't need any good clothes and was shocked when he learned that he might have to go to church! He was invited to a christening after all.. Hence the Cameroon football shirt, the only one he brought with a collar.

I've also put a few photos of our trip to Bald Rock at the end of last year. Dad, Peter, Peter and I went down on a weekday to fill in some time. We got to the top and found ourselves in a ladybird plague. I called mum from the summit (I have a love-hate relationship with Telstra NextG) and she was so thrilled about it! I must say it's a much more pleasant experience that a plague of midgies or flies.

Well, I'm off for an afternoon siesta after a totally excellent breakfast at the Riverbend Cafe. I'd highly recommend it if anyone's out this way. Hope you're all well xox

All Good Things Must Come to an End

2008-12-26T23:24:00.000-08:00

As the title suggests, a very good thing has indeed come to an end. After a hectic 'race around the world' through Indonesia, we arrived back in Oz late in October, bleary-eyed after a couple of crappy flights from Bali.

Our plan was to have a couple of week's relaxation in Brisbane while finding a job, but I don't think we could have planned our return to the mining workforce at a worse time! The markets crashed in October, capital was hard to get and most companies seemed to put moratoriums on hiring. A person we know who works in recruitment said that jobs went from 90 one week, to 3 the next, to none! We completed 90% of the recruitment process for two jobs based in Orange (which would have been so lovely) but right at the end those jobs evaporated. So at the moment we're still waiting until the silly season finishes up so we can continue the job hunt. We're not holding out hopes of finding much though, so I'm starting to think about doing other crazy things, like going back to uni.

In between everything I managed to fit in a quick trip to Broome so I could be at my friends' wedding. It was so fabulous to see all my friends from Tom Price, who reminded me of a few things I'd rather forget from my times as a party animal! Ceanne was a such a beautiful bride and Jeremy had everyone in tears as he got emotional during his vows.

My friends Carly and Chris were nice enough to ferry me around to the tourist attractions in their hire car as well, which felt like charity for the unemployed at the time.... in fact I'm still unemployed so I'm glad they were so generous! We went kayaking around the headland and saw some amazing things, the giant flatback turtles were my favourites. I stupidly forgot a hat so had to pull out my emergency Buff to keep the 36-degree sun off my scalp. We also went down to the headland to check out some dinosaur footprints, but the tide wasn't out far enough for us to see them. We also went to an pearl farm and got talked into taking a scenic chopper flight while we were waiting for a tour! Words can't describe how beautiful the water is there: You'll just have to check out the photos.

I stopped in Sydney on the way back through to Brisbane for a few days and stayed with my Auntie Tina. Sydney was great, although I'm still convinced I couldn't live in such a busy place. Pete and I met up for lunch and to see the Monet exhibition, which was a bit disappointing (albeit a bit cheaper than usual). For some fresh air and exercise I walked from Clovelly to La Perouse one day and was blessed with the weather and awesome views. Mind you, the amount of waiting and dodging golf balls and dirty old men through THREE golf courses was a bit much to handle. I was certainly glad to get to the proper tracks in the National Park. While walking through the banksias and flowering, heady-scented eucalypts I was close to tears as I remembered how much I missed this country and took it for granted.

Christmas was great, albeit a bit melancholy given the double-whammy unemployment status for Pete and me. We had a lovely Christmas Eve with my Mum and Dad, and my brother and his fiancee, Jasmine. Santa did a very good job this year and we all went to bed with smiles on our faces. At the end-of-year sales today I picked up a nice (cheap!) dress to wear to my brother's wedding in February, and a couple of other nice things I neither need or can afford! My budget starts tomorrow! We're thinking of doing an overnight walk at Lamington for NYE, but park or track closures might get the better of us.

Here's hoping for a good start to the new year with some job offers for Pete and I!

So Close But So Far....

2008-10-20T02:44:00.000-07:00

At least that's how it feels anyway. We're currently in Lovina in the north of Bali, relaxing after a very hectic few weeks in Java. We fly home from Denpasar on the 26th of October giving us a good few days of R'n'R before returning to Oz.

Let's see what I can remember of our last few whirlwind weeks....... We had a great time in KL and Singapore eating up a storm and and shopping til we dropped (well I did anyway, Pete waited patiently for me at home..). In hindsight it was a bit of a mistake to spend so much time in Malaysia/Singapore before heading to Java because we became so accustomed to the wonderful hawkers' food that Indonesia has been a real culinary disappointment.

Bandung was a real highlight for me, since so many memories came flooding back. We hired a driver for the day and went to visit the houses I lived in when I was a kid, and also my old school. By coincidence our driver also worked in the aviation industry in Bandung (just like my dad..) and his English was excellent. The first house we went to, Budi Sari, was still exactly how I remembered it, and the owners were nice enough to let us inside for a look. Amazingly, even some of the same furniture is still there! The second house also appeared the same, but the owners weren't too happy about some random aussies coming in for a look - it's in a gated secure compound. The staff at my old school were incredibly hospitable, and I almost felt like a celebrity for a few hours there. I had trouble recognising some of the buildings there but I think that's because so much has changed. The old playground is now a swimming pool! They were so disappointed when I couldn't hang around for 'fabulous friday' when all the early childhood classes perform songs for their parents and classmates. To be honest I would have felt quite embarrassed to be there!

We also spent a day climbing Tangkuban Perahu, the volcano which overlooks the city of Bandung. It's exactly as I remember it, except that this time the amount of rubbish is staggering. As friendly and helpful as the Indonesian people are, on the flip side they aren't so good at being clean or dealing with rubbish. Jalan Cihampelas (Jeans Street) in downtown Bandung was a scream. In a bid to outdo each other, each of the cheap clothing retailers have constructed enormous super hero statues outside their shops, so that in about 50m you can see Rambo, Superman, Batman and the Incredible Hulk. Pete just had to get a pic with Arnie.....

From there we spent a day at Pangandaran, a beach town I remember going to as a kid that was unfortunately been battered by a tsunami a few years ago. They're still rebuilding, and the upside for travellers is that all the accommodation is new and mostly in good working order. I was disappointed however to see 2m-high piles of rubbish on the beach, which I remember to be in better shape back then. It's the perfect example of paradise lost, I suppose.

We then went to Jogjakarta and had a lovely time. It's a bit smaller and thus less hectic that Bandung or Jakarta and it has Borobodur just down the road. We woke early to see Borobodur at sunrise and were glad afterwards that we did (although at 4.30am it was difficult to see through the haziness of sleep). I can't wait to see the photos from that day for real on my computer, the light was so beautiful on the carvings, and the haze over the surrounding jungle was so moody and perfect.

Now onto the epic tale of yesterday - We continued on the theme of early mornings by booking a trip a day after Borobodur to see Gunung Bromo at sunrise. Due to a bit of tout 'misinformation' we missed out on the best part of sunrise but were still in awe of the landscape - it was almost lunar. After the early morning yesterday we then continued on to Probolinggo, then on to the ferry to Bali, and then at 6pm had to find some transport to Lovina! We ended up having to buy out the rest of the seats on the local bus (so typical of the developing world...) because the driver refused to leave until the bus was full, never mind if nobody else showed up that night. The driver then had the cheek ignore our requests to be dropped in town at the post office, and instead dropped us at his 'friend's' hotel, half an hour's walk from Lovina, after 10pm! Peter the Patient lost his patience and wanted to chase the driver down the street for a chat but thankfully reason kicked in and we got our exercise for the day walking back to where we wanted to go in the first place, albeit way past our bedtime.

I'm getting a bit nervous about coming home, but I'm so excited for so many reasons. I think a bit of reverse-culture shock will kick in, I suppose most people haven't been arguing with locals over a $2 bus trip or had to bargain for such things as drinking water and the price of using filthy toilet! Travelling certainly isn't glamorous! There are so many things I realise now that I take for granted in Australia: road rules, good wine, reserved seating on public transport, fixed prices, and health and safety regulations. So first on my list of to-dos back home will be to enjoy a nice glass of wine, and breathe in the clean air which I so often take for granted. I'd even like to catch the train home from the airport but my mum won't hear of it!

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again so if you're in Brisbane and free anytime after the 27th October, let me know! I'll be up for as many cups of tea as I have friends (I wonder which is the greater number?), and since I don't have a job (yet) I'm free almost whenever. Hope everyone's well xox

Full Circle

2008-09-13T00:06:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this post from Penang, where I was born 28 years ago (although I wish it was a few years less!). So far we have been here for about a day and we have had fried mee, char koay teow, indian thalis and more. I love this place! It's a total gastronomic paradise. And the highlight so far is the lack of tourists. I think the bulk of the young Bangkok tourists are put off from travelling here because it's a strict Muslim country, so you don't get the party animals, narco-tourists, sex tourists or up-and-coming barflies. Basically you cut out all the crap! I think it will be a bit easier to meet people here than on the tourist trail in Thailand. On Wednesday we're catching the ferry to Medan where I think there will be even less foreigners. Mind you, there will be less Indians and Chinese too, so finding something to snack on during the day at the moment might be a bit tricky! Hope everyone's well.

I Love Bangkok!

2008-09-02T04:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm still alive and in Bangkok. It's my first visit to the Thai capital and I love it so far! Thais are so neat and clean, and smiley as well. The only negative experience so far was our attempt to buy a couple of cool t-shirts on Khao San Rd last night. Khao San Rd is the main tourist strip in Bangkok, and for most of the time it's closed to traffic because there are so many tourists. There are some awesome t-shirt designs in amongst all the other mass-produced ones, but when we tried to buy three of them, the shark running the stall wouldn't give them to us for any less than 200 baht each. That's about A$8! A total rip-off when you can buy the same shirts at the weekend market for about $3. I think too many clueless people have passed through there and paid way too much, ruining the fun for everybody else. But enough complaining..... Bangkok is so cool!

Yesterday we spent the entire day wandering around Siam Square and the surrounding shopping district. We saw a movie as well, in the plushest cinema I've ever seen! And it only cost $5 - That's cheaper than when I was at uni! We bought a couple of things (Pete finally has his battery-powered hair shaver) and drooled over lightweight laptops. We had a fantastic lunch too, in a really swish food court. I think tomorrow we might go ten-pin bowling in the Siam Paragon centre. I love this city!

The Middle of the Mekong

2008-08-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

Si Phan Don (Four Thousand Islands), in the middle of the Mekong on the border between Laos and Cambodia, is the sort of place where it's easy to extend your stay. We planned to stay for one or two nights and stayed for three, and six years ago when Pete was here previously, he stayed a week! Below is Pete doing what suits Don Khon best - reading and lazing about.

There's no escaping the fact that we are travelling in the wet season, and while we have had mostly clear weather throughout SE Asia so far, the rain is never too far away. Apparently the Mekong is currently at 100-year flood levels up north, so I shudder to think what might be happening to the bars, restaurants and bungalows on Si Phan Don.

One of our favourite things to do was to sit on the French colonial-era bridge and watch the sun set and the water rush by. It all went down nicely with a icy cold Beer Lao from the shop next to the bridge.

There are several 'waterfalls' in the vicinity and below is a photo of Pete cycling on his weapon bike to the slightly smaller one. I don't think we've found a bike yet that fits him, which is great for me, I get a laugh every time I see him riding by!

Here's the slightly smaller, but arguably more spectacular waterfall on the Mekong. Even my wide-angle lens doesn't do the spectacle justice - it's almost a 270 degree view of rapids.

Night two sitting on the bridge was spectacular, not only was the beer nice and cold, but the sunset was amazing. Mother Nature manages some glorious sights sometimes, and the cloud formations as viewed from the bridge were one of her better efforts. Never mind the clapped-out pair of thongs below, the bridge was still hot from the day's sun, and stubby coolers are rare in Laos!

On day two we caught a rustic long-boat and then a very luxurious mini-van to the slightly larger waterfall. It was pretty amazing as well, and as with the other waterfall, it was also a 270 degree view. As ever Pete was being a boy and couldn't resist posing.

And on to the finale: The sunset on night three. We saw and felt the cool change come through - that's it you can see in the cloud stretching across the horizon.

Finally, just for fun, here's a photo of one of the menus on the island. Along with 'Spin Rolls', we could also choose to have 'Streamed Rice'. There's two I haven't seen before.

We're still in Siem Reap after a few false starts. Hoff and Katrina turned up and we all had an impromptu big night drinking 'Tomb Raider' cocktails (cointreau, lime and tonic). They went down a little too easily and we stumbled home way after midnight. The next day we felt sore and sorry and yesterday we tried to spend the day doing at least something useful. Katrina and I went to a interesting but very expensive artisan workshop, where to create a certain effect on the imitation wood carvings, they rub the wood with their calloused palms for one week! I'm going to remember that every time I think I'm getting bored at work! Today we were meant to leave early on the bus to Bangkok, but as luck would have it, Iron Guts Stonestreet is scared to leave the proximity of the toilet. So the plan is that we'll finally leave tomorrow if nothing else changes.

What? Poo?

2008-08-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

Hi, I have time for another post I think so here goes. First up is a photo of a typical street in Savannakhet, a small town in southern Laos. It's full of dilapidated old French colonial buildings, with the odd new Chinese building or Wat (temple) thrown in for good measure. With some paving and a lick of paint, the town seems to me to be almost identical to Luang Prabang, now the hippest and fanciest place to go in Laos.

While we were discussing the day's events with a Beer Lao looking out over the Mekong, we were lucky enough to see some locals in a dragon boat going past. Because it's the wet season right now, the river is flowing very fast, so when we saw them coming back the other way, they were definitely going slower and working a lot harder! That's Thailand you can see on the other side of the Mekong.

After our gastronomic excesses in Vientiane, we tried to keep things low-key, but we couldn't go past this crazy place which was floating on the river. I think it was run by Thais, since most of them were speaking English. I believe that the Mekong is now experiencing 100-year flood levels, so I wonder how this place is going, and if you can get out there at all? Note the boardwalk for access.

After a night in Savannakhet we kept heading south to Pakse, Champasak, and the lovely Wat Phu. On the way to the Wat we shared the tuk-tuk with some French girls, who bought one of these things for a snack. Having seen plenty of them for sale I was intrigued as to how you might eat them. It turns out that you break the seed pod apart and then peel the seeds to eat the inner crunchy and slightly-sweet part. I found out later that these things are the seed pod of some kind of water lily.

Upon arrival at Wat Phu, we were immediately impressed. It was inexpensive to get in, and small enough that we saw everything in under two hours. It's an old Khmer temple complex which dates from the 11th-13th centuries. Although the walk was a bit tough in the sticky weather, our efforts were rewarded since the ruins at the top are nicely shaded and cool. There is even a natural spring seeping out from the sandstone cliffs above.

These gorgeous things are available for purchase for Buddists wanting to make an offering at some of the shrines around the complex. There are loads of different types, most of them involving orchids, marigolds or jasmine.

This is the view from the upper temples at Wat Phu. As you can see, it's only a small site, but quite nice. It was a taste of things to come later at Angkor Wat.

It might take a while to make it out, but this is a carving of a crocodile. There were a few cryptic carvings labelled on the map, so it was a bit like 'Where's Wally' as we tried to find them.

Finally, the steps we climbed to access the upper parts of the temples. It might not look that bad in the photo, but those stairs were steep!

At the moment we're in Siem Reap, the town that services the Angkor Wat temple complex. It has to be seen to be believed - the number of temples here is just amazing - Angkor Wat is the biggest one but there are hundred of others, all in various states of disrepair or restoration. I especially liked the Bantay Srei temple - the relief carvings are almost 3D, and so beautiful. We went back for a second visit to Angkor Wat yesterday for the sunset and it was so beautiful. The temple started to glow with the warm golden colours of the setting sun. The reflections in the adjacent pool was perfect and so majestic. I can see how this place can be so addictive and mesmerising.

We spent two days checking out the temples and we have two days in Siem Reap left. Today Hoff and Katrina are flying in from Koh Samui so I think we might have a big night tonight! Tomorrow I'll try and squeeze in a cooking class and maybe a massage from the blind people. After that we're going to Battambang for a couple of nights, and then on to Bangkok! I can't wait to go shopping!

That's it for today, since Slowstreet is finally at the tail-end of drafting his CV. I can't wait to put some of my Angkor photos up.

Vientiane

2008-08-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hello, here's some photos from our stay in Vientiane. Although most travellers seem to think it's a boring place, we spent a good few days there and probably could have spent longer. There are plenty of lovely shops and restaurants in town (many of them French..) and some great places to sit by the Mekong and enjoy a Beer Lao. La Cave Des Chateaux was the best French restaurant we tried: You can't argue with a perfectly-cooked steak for just $10! I took a photo of the sign because the gecko looks so out of place.

While walking to the markets, we came across this sign, apparently sponsored by the Australian Government. It's pretty cute!

Here's me having a whale of a time at the brand-new water park. I think I posted something earlier about our trip to this place - Pete ended up bruising his rib cartilage when he started going too fast and fell. We were having a great time up until about then. After the rib incident we mostly floated around in the kiddies pool.

Again, here's me having fun while Pete was nursing his sore ribs. He was miserable for a few days after that and even now he's still a tiny bit sore.

Although it was only hours after the rib incident, Pete perked up for dinner with my mate Rosco, who works for Pan Australian in Laos. We went for dinner at La Cave Des Chateaux and then headed up to one of the many bars in town where ex-pats go for a drink (or maybe even to find a Lao girlfriend). It was on the fifth floor of a building right next to the Mekong, so the views were impressive. Although I remembered too late to make a can of 'harden-up', I did do my best to shoosh Rosco (these jokes will only be remembered by a few who were at George Fisher around 2002-2003!)

Patouxai, Vientiane's Arc de Triomphe is pictured below. Apparently it was built with cement donated for construction of the new airport, so some ex-pats have nicknamed it 'the vertical runway'. It's lovely from a distance, and ghastly up close!

And just in case you don't believe me, here's the sign that proclaims that fact:

The view from the top is impressive however, and from the photo you can probably deduce that Vientiane is not much of a city, and more like a big town. I don't think there are any buildings in Laos that are more than about five stories, which makes for a laid-back and relaxing place.

Finally, just for fun here's a photo of Pete's lunch while we were on our way south to Savannakhet. He bought some boiled eggs as part of his lunch and got a bonus with his purchase! The man with guts of steel couldn't quite bring himself to eat a baby chicken so the dogs did very well for themselves that day.

That's it for now, I'll post again if I have time today. Pete's doing his CV so I may have some time up my sleeve. Mine's already done but it's too scary to send it off - because then reality really will kick in! We only have about ten weeks left until we return to Australia, which is not a very long time at all!

Tubby Tubers in Vang Vieng

2008-08-19T04:32:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I'm making the best of a good internet connection and putting up as many photos as I can at the moment. First up below is an example of the awesome snacks you can find from the street sellers in Laos. Five or more ears of corn usually costs the equivalent of about 20 cents, and comes with the guarantee that it's sterile and unlikely to make you sick! You don't see purple corn that often in Oz, or come to think of it, in South America either, the home of corn. We bought this batch from some street sellers on the way to Vang Vieng from Luang Prabang by bus.

Upon arrival in Vang Vieng, we were in for a bit of a shock. The town basically exists to service 18-22 year old tourists from Australia and the UK on their way to either country. Most of them are overweight, loud and insensitive to the local people. The most sought-after activity seems to be 'tubing' which involves hiring an old truck inner tube for the day and floating down the river, stopping at as many makeshift bars as possible. Not suprisingly a few people do die this way, from swift currents, hidden derbris underwater or from plain drunkenness. The water's a bit murky and swift-flowing at the moment for my liking so we opted out of any sort of tubing. Instead we hired some bikes and rode out to the caves and swimming holes that surround the town. The views were spectacular and we had a great time. And as a bonus, the 'tubby tubers', as Pete nicknamed them, were mostly too lazy to do likewise so we almost had the place to ourselves.

Here's Team Trek showing off his wheels. I was Team Chinese, with some sort of dodgy Chinese contraption with no gears, questionable brakes and a flat back tyre. I didn't go quite so fast that day.

This is one of the best water holes we visited during our bike ride. The water was pretty clear and very refreshing. You might be able to see a rope swing in the background - of course Pete had to try it out. He managed to squash his finger between the rope and the stick so now he has a mark underneath his fingernail. All in the name of fun I suppose.

This was the view from the waterhole above. It was so lovely, and special since there were only a handful of other intrepid travellers and local kids to share it with.

Here's the view we checked out as we were having lunch. Lunch was a bit of a mixed bag. We were starving so the fried noodles with veggies definitely filled a hole, but there was so much MSG in them that we both drank about three litres of water afterwards! Nice scenery though....

And finally, on the way home, I had some fun with the camera. I'm quite good now at taking one-handed action pics, and I'm quite pleased with this one! The local kid was chasing his dad's tractor, I think. My tyre got worse as the afternoon wore on, and by the time we cycled over the last bridge each rock was hitting the rim. Lucky I only paid a dollar for the privilege.

We have one more day in Phnom Penh, then we're catching the bus to Siam Reap. I'm so excited about seeing Angkor Wat. The Cambodians are certainly proud of it: It's on everything from their beer to their flag so it must be pretty good. Stay well.

Luang Prabang

2008-08-18T03:08:00.000-07:00

Hello, it's been a while and I've been itching to write some more and put a few more photos up. I think the last post was from our trek near Luang Nam Tha? From there we endured a sinuous and lengthy bus trip to Nong Kiaow via Udomxai. I won't be upset if I never have to do that trip again! There's not a whole lot in Nong Kiaow except beautiful limestone karst scenery and a river. We took a while finding a place to stay, and even then we relocated for the second night. I think lots of people have a romantic notion of what bungalows are, but in reality they mean holes in the floor, mouldy walls and often very basic furniture. The first bungalow we stayed in had stale sheets on the bed, rats in the ceiling and as a bonus, a nice collection of used hotel soaps in the bathroom. Oh, and a squat toilet. Since Pete was getting over a cold and I was getting one, the mould proved too much for our sniffling so we moved across the road to a similar, but cleaner bungalow. I'm sticking to tiles as much as possible now! This first photos is of the bridge, river and spectacular scenery in Nong Kiaow. It's the view that greeted us from the verandah of our second bungalow.

After a very relaxing day in Nong Kiaow, we caught the boat down the river to Luang Prabang. Now that the roads have been fixed up, it's much cheaper to travel there by bus, but it's just not the same as a boat! So after a bit of haggling we found our boatman and started the six-hour journey. The photo below shows the type of boat we caught. I'm sure it didn't have any safety gear, and although it had a toilet, it was an interesting experience to use it! Pete is happy to divulge the mechanics of peeing there to any males who might be interested.

Not long after we started our boat journey, ominous dark clouds appeared on the horizon downstream. At one stage during the following rainstorm, our skipper pulled off to the side of the river and stopped because visibility was so bad. I think he was worried about a few things: debris floating downstream, submerged hazards and some of the scary rapids that punctuate the usually calm river.

The sun came back out for our arrival in Luang Prabang, and the city (well, town really) was a sight to behold. Gorgeous colonial French architecture, local bars shaded by palm trees along the river and some really lovely shops greeted us when we climbed up the bank. I really loved Luang Prabang although I can see why some people might not. I suppose you could argue that you're not really experiencing another culture if you eat at the Scandinavian Bakery for breakfast, but hey, I wasn't complaining! The photo below is of the main tourist street in the town, and as you can see it's a mix of lots of different styles. The most beautiful buildings in my opinion are the French ones, but some of the locals have done a good job of opening new swanky restaurants and the like. Amusingly, falang (foreigners) are forbidden to hire motorbikes in Luang Prabang because there were too many accidents, and the rustic hospital system in Laos just couldn't cope with some of the injuries.

One of several things to do in Luang Prabang is to check out the Palace Museum. Laos was a monarchy up until the 1960s (?) when the palace was converted to a museum. It's quite modest by western royal standards, but it is a beautiful building nonetheless. As always in Laos, visitors are requested to remove their footwear before entering buildings, a request I have no problem with for a change. The polished wooden floors throughout the palace were cool and spotlessly clean. The Lao people are some of the cleanest in the world, I think. The decoration was sparse but so tasteful, and some of the royal gifts were really amazing. Moon rocks and a plaque from the US, gorgeous tableware and silverware from France, and just to round out the field, a boomerang from Australia! The photo below shows just one part of the outside of the building. Cameras were prohibited inside.

Luang Prabang has some of the most tasteful and lovely markets that I think I have seen. I think it might even be better that Otovalo in Ecuador! All the handicrafts for sale were so lovely, and I could have bought boxes full! In fact I did buy a few things: fisherman pants at $2 each, and a really lovely doona cover for $17. Boy did I regret buying that doona cover for a few days while I lugged it down to Vientiane!

Finally, travelling's just not travelling if you don't eat your way through the culture, so here's Pete doing just that. Each night we walked down to the night market and feasted on fish and chicken on a stick, fresh spring rolls and mini-coconut pancakes, all washed down with a BeerLao. I can't wait to go back!

Well, that's it for now. Right now we're in Phnom Penh where the people are definitely not so clean as the Laos! Mind you, the Laos have had an extra 20 years of peace to construct gutters and organise rubbish collection so I am trying to cut the poor Khmer people some slack. Today we went to the killing fields and the genocide museum. It doesn't make for a happy or fun day but I couldn't imagine visiting this city and missing them. I was disappointed several times during the day when some tourists (tourists, not travellers) didn't pause for reflection as requested by the Khmers at the killing fields memorial, or took photos of themselves smiling out from behind the bars at the genocide museum. I don't understand how people could be so cold or insensitive, especially when most Cambodians can still remember such horrible events. Tomorrow will surely be a more upbeat day since we are going to the palace museum to see the silver pagoda!

Leeches, Mud, Bamboo Rafts.....

2008-08-10T04:08:00.000-07:00

Hello, here's another post for today, bringing the total to three! I was planning to do this much later on, but since the second fierce rainstorm for today is in full swing, I might as well keep busy on the blog. I've chosen a couple of photos from our recent three-day trekking in the Nam Ha NP in Northern Laos. We were lucky enough to do the trip with three other great people - Alex and Tanya (an Irish lass) from Woolongong, and Sophie from Scotland. Had we had any whingers on the trip, it would have been almost unbearable since the accommodation was rustic, and the mud and leeches were incessant.

On the second day we had a little hiccup when the bamboo raft which we were supposed to use to cross the river was swept away downstream towards the rapids, with the two guides, Pete, Alex and Tanya on board. Luckily they jumped onto an island (well, more of a protruding log) and then begun the tricky task of being rescued. The first two photos show Peter and Tanya on the bamboo raft, this time crossing the river safely, complete with 'safety' vine; and our two guides guiding the raft safely to the other side of the river.

After the unpleasant experience of the bamboo raft river crossing, the fun wasn't over. There was more mud and even more leeches to come. Here's our bloody, wrinkled feet at the end of day 2. Pete's are the worst-affected by far.

And finally, at the end of the trip, here's us all stinky and happy (l-r Jai, Sophie, Alex, Tanya, Jacquelnie, Peter and Manoi (sp?)). It took us about two hours to clean our things back at the guesthouse in Nam Tha! And boy was that shower good!

Now that's really it for today. I'm off to watch the rain with a BeerLao. xox

TLG Photos II

2008-08-10T02:42:00.000-07:00

Same batch of photos, separate blog entry. In addition to the lovely mint tea that the people running the guesthouse brought us, they also served up some great and inexpensive dinner. Chinese food is best eaten in a group, it's almost unheard of in China to order a meal just for yourself. Here's Pete and Daniel getting stuck into the eggplant and potato.

I just love this photo. We were a bit weary and dirty when we arrived at the guesthouse, but after a shower, this was the view of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain that greeted us from the courtyard. The glow from the late afternoon sun was so special, and we were so lucky that it lasted long enough for me to capture it. That white strip of snow on the top of the mountain is actually a glacier on the other side. 2km below, at the bottom of this enormous cliff is the Yangtze River.

I just love this picture too. Although as soon as I'd taken this one, everyone else got out their fancy SLRs and made me homesick for mine! I can't wait to see my Nikon again! There are so many times I've wished for it and then corrected myself straight away - There's no way I want to carry around that extra 2.5kg! The picture shows the courtyard at the guesthouse, and that's a wall of drying corn on the right.

The view from the stairs leading down to the toilet at about 7.30am the next day. I could go on putting photos like this up, but I'm sure you'd all be sick of them. This will have to do!

A rare photo of me while walking. It's a shame about the powerlines above! Yangtze River below.

That's all for now. Thanks for dropping in, and I hope you like the photos. I'd highly recommend Tiger Leaping Gorge, it was definitely the highlight in Yunnan for me.

TLG Photos

2008-08-10T02:08:00.000-07:00

I promised to put some pictures from our wonderful Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek, and here they are. The first is of us before the trek, smelling great and without any mud on our shoes! The start of the track was pretty difficult to find. Luckily we met some German/Swiss travellers who had downloaded the track onto their GPS!

The first day was pretty easy, although mostly uphill. We walked with the aforementioned Swiss/German travellers, one of whom was eleven years old. A Chinese farmer thought he was on a winner and followed us for kilometres with his donkey in case Josi, the eleven-year-old, became tired. He followed us to our first overnight stop without any luck!

This is just one of dozens of photos I took along the way. The difference in topography from the Yangtze River to the top of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is about 2km. That's impressive.

Upon arrival at our first overnight stop, Naxi Guesthouse, the lady running the place sat us all down, flustered and muddy, and offered us green mint tea. It was one of the most welcoming places we had stayed in for a while, and it almost felt like a shame to be on our way again early the next morning. We met a few ex-pats based in Shanghai who were happy to stay perched at the edge of the gorge with a good book indefinitely.

Daniel, a German ex-pat with whom we spent the first day, showed us his Chinese visa. Although it's officially proper English, we still had a chuckle!

More photos to come, I've discovered you can only upload five photos at once on Blogger.

Fun and Games at the Waterpark

2008-08-08T04:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Or bruises their rib cartilage, as Pete did yesterday. The brand-spanking new water park in Vientiane has only been open for a month or two, so it was a real pleasure to visit - everything was clean, there weren't too many people and the staff were super-friendly and eager to please. The slides were awesome, and as we found out, a little dangerous too. I'd say they were designed with 70kg Asian men in mind, not 90kg+ westerners. After half a dozen rides we decided to have just one more, and as I hurtled down the intermediate-speed slide I found myself wondering 'how many people are likely to be injured on this thing', since my spine was twisting in all sorts of directions. As I exited the splash-down pool, Pete was launched from the tower with much fan-fare from the lifeguards to see how fast they could get him to go. It turns out he went pretty fast, so fast in fact that I saw almost his entire body above the guards on one of the corners. On the second last corner, he had moved well above the horizontal and came down on the side of his chest with a loud thud. He wasn't so good after that and it certainly put a dampener on the afternoon. He managed to perk up for a few hours last night at dinner (maybe it was the red wine?) but we both had an interrupted night of sleep because of his pain. We were both quite worried that he had broken a rib or something.

Today we have spent about $15 on tuk-tuks trying to find a GP. After two visits to the Oz Embassy Clinic we found out that they didn't have a doctor rostered on today at all, and they referred us to the (much cheaper and friendlier) French Clinic. The doctor there chuckled when Pete described how he had injured himself, and the doctor replied that 'Every week since that park opened I have treated someone!'. Apparently someone actually fell off the slide and onto the ground some weeks ago. Here's hoping that person was OK. The moral of the story is: Don't injure yourself in Laos, whatever you do! Medical help can be tricky to find.

COPEing With Disability In Laos

2008-08-06T04:36:00.000-07:00

EToday was an emotional one for me. Last night we were taking photos of an NGO vehicle parked outside our guesthouse which contained a UXO (unexploded ordnance) when another traveller handed us a flyer. The flyer was for COPE, an organisation which runs a rehabilitation centre for people with disabilities in Laos. While I was very much aware of Laos' hangover from the Vietnam war, the impact suddenly became real and very clear to me while we were at the COPE visitor's centre. I was in tears at one point, although I think I got away without anyone seeing me. The photos, stories and exhibits were moving, graphic and uplifting all at once. I had already fallen in love with the Lao people, who are so happy and smiley despite their meagre lot in life, so to see such horrible injuries and hear such dreadful stories of injury and pain pushed me over the emotional edge. COPE assists not only people with disabilities caused by UXOs, but also those with birth defects, polio, leperosy, and increasingly, injuries from vehicle accidents.

Never before have I seen a country so poor as Laos, but with such resilient and pleasant people. I have also never before seen so many NGOs operating all in one place, everyone from Japanese Government-funded hospitals to UNICEF, the World Food Program and AusAID. More than once I have bathed from and AusAID water pump. Although finding a job and returning to reality is not an entirely pleasant thought with which to fill my days, I am looking forward to directing some of my hard-earned money to organisations like Big Brother Mouse or COPE in Laos.

You can find out more about these organisations by checking out www.copelaos.org or www.maginternational.org. Big Brother Mouse is another excellent organisation run entirely by Lao people, for Lao people - www.bigbrothermouse.com

Other than crying during the day, we have been enjoying excellent restaurants and a little bit of shopping. For those who remember Ross Faichney from Isa, I will be having dinner tomrrow night with him and will pass on any shooshes to him. We are also very excited about going to one of Vientiane's newest attraction, the water park. I can't wait to behave like a little kid again!

Lijiang Photos

2008-07-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

It's a bit fuzzy, but the view from our guesthouse over the old Lijiang was just beautiful. It's UNESCO Heritage-Listed, so I think there is an obligation to look after the town and keep it from development.

These red lanterns seem to be the done thing in Lijiang - at dusk most restaurants fire them up for the tourists, and the effect is really nice. Lijiang has an amazing system of canals and wells that in the old days would supply the town with fresh water. Some of the old wells are even in use today, in fact there was one right next to our guesthouse.

Although it was a little bit touristy (like everything in Dali and Lijiang), you could purchase these little lanterns and float them down the canals. Lots of parents were buying them for their children for the photo opportunity. As you can see, I was sucked in too and it makes for a great photo.

I had to get up early to get these next two pics - since the crowds generally start picking up at about 8.30am. The cobbles, canals and red lanterns were so beautiful, especially the cobbles from a geologists' point of view. They were mostly a colourful silicified breccia with the odd bit of limestone thrown in.

And finally, some beautiful old buildings, some of them even a bit crooked for effect. Lovely really. Except imagine the image below with about three thousand tourists crammed in shoulder-to-shoulder........

That's it for now, I'm off for a nice lunch and maybe another of those delicious smoothies that they do so well here in Laos. xox

Pics from Kunming, Yuanyang and Dali

2008-07-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

Hello, here's some pics as promised. The first one is of the view from our hostel in Kunming. It looks out over the (unfortunately named) "Golden Arches" in the city centre. The view was mesmerising, especially at sunset with a beer. It's a pity about the pollution, but after the rain it seemed to dissipate a bit.

Here's us at the Shi Lin, the Stone Forest near Kunming. It's a UNESCO Heritage site, so it was a pleasure to visit since it was clean and had toilets and everything. It was a bit of a strange experience to have to share a National Park with so many thousands of other tourists, but we found our own few minutes of peace and quiet by waiting in the one spot for for the gap between tour groups.

Below is a spectacular view of the rice terraces in Yuanyang, to the south-east of Kunming. They were difficult to reach, and there wasn't much else in the town but rice terraces, but it was certainly worth it. The drizzle was almost constant during our stay, but I think these terraces could be amazing and almost other-worldly during a good sunset

This is one of the towers along the old city walls in Dali. We (stupidly) paid Y$2 to go up there and found out that it wasn't much more than a tacky tea-house nowadays, but at least you could get an idea of the views they would have gazed at all those centuries ago. Note the hordes of Chinese tourists in the foreground.

And finally, a photo just for fun... I snapped these two reclining in the back of a truck while on a bus. How you could possibly relax as a passenger on Chinese roads is beyond me, but I suppose these guys were locals.

More pics to come - I have found a reasonably quick internet connection here in Luang Prabang, but it's on a mac so I'm struggling with a few things. xox

Laos!

2008-07-27T05:44:00.001-07:00

In short: Laos is great, and but we miss China too.

We found out just before we left China that there had been a series of bomb blasts on the local buses in Kunming, so there was LOADS of extra security at the train and bus station. Ignorance is bliss however, so for the first few bus trips before seeing the news we were totally unaware.

We have just finished three days on a trekking tour out of Luang Nam Tha in Northern Laos. It's monsoon season here, so there was water, water everywhere, and the accompanying mosquitoes and mud. The first day was a four hour kayak down the Nam Tha river, which was mostly relaxing due to the volume of water in the river. Pete had great fun falling out in the rapids and cooling himself off. We then spent the next two days walking between villages and staying with the locals. The food was excellent, cooked by the villagers and our guides, although the accommodation was a little rustic. Pete and I have sent our boots home so we did the trek in a pair of sports sandals, complete with mud and leeches. I have a particularly appetising pic of our bloody, wrinkled wet feet on day three. It was certainly nice to have a hot shower at the end of it all. We were also looking forward to doing our washing - all 6kg of it, stinky and damp from so much time in the jungle.

We stayed in Nong Khiaw for two nights and yesterday we caught a boat down the river to Luang Prabang, where we are now. It's a great little city, tropical but full of creature comforts (and not to mention more tourists than we have seen in a long time). We have forked out the princely sum of US$15 for a brand new room with private bathroom.. and that really is expensive for Laos, no joke! This morning we went to the Scandinavian Bakery and enjoyed warm chocolate croissants, toast and coffee. Pete and I are both getting over a little cold so the plan for today is to take it easy and get stuck into the wats and museums tomorrow.

Chinese Food

2008-07-21T23:56:00.000-07:00

Hello again, just an update to let you all know I'm still alive and OK. We're having a rest day in Kunming - although battling the crowds on the buses to get to the post office didn't seem like resting to me - before some long bus trips to get into Laos. We have just conveniently finished our respective books, and as luck would have it we have swapped them for another two good books for the trip ahead that neither of us have read.

I suspect the food in Laos will be pretty good but I'll miss the food from here, that's for sure. We have tried so many great dishes, most of them vegetarian since pork's not really my thing, and they've pretty much all been fantastic. A few of my favourites have been braised eggplant, chilli tofu and the noodles you get from the takeaway shops for about 60c. Yesterday on the bus from Lijiang to Dali our lunch was included, although we didn't know about that until the conductor dragged us into the lunchroom! The Chinese love to eat and slurp and make a mess - just the way food should be enjoyed I suppose. xox

A Few Quick Thoughts

2008-07-20T04:37:00.000-07:00

If Dali was a disappointment, then Lijian and Tiger Leaping Gorge have made up for it in bucketloads! We are in Lijiang, after just completing the Tiger Leaping Gorge mini-trek yesterday. The views were spectacular, probably the most impressive I've ever seen in my life, and we met some friendly and interesting people along the way. I don't have much net time left atm, but I can't wait to post some pics of this spectacular area. Keep your eyes peeled, thanks for stopping in. xox

Hong Kong

2008-07-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hello, here's a few new pics from the last few days. Hong Kong was a bit of a blur, but so much fun. It's like all the good bits from China, without most of the bad. We only had four days there and were a bit jetlagged for the first bit, so we didn't tick off every single tourist attraction. You have to save some for later, right? This first photo is of the upper levels escalator, the longest one in the world I think. Heaven knows what the locals did before that thing was installed - on a sticky day you would have arrived at the top in a sweating mess!

We also caught the Peak Tram up the adjacent hill to take in the view of the city. Despite the smog (probably haze from humidity as well) the city is beautiful from a distance. And a bit quieter, without the traffic and Indian tailors.

Here's me being a bit indulgent with photography. There are some really beautiful buildings in HK, and some downright ugly ones too. This is one of the better ones, and captured in a rare cloudless moment.

On our last day in HK we decided to have a lazy day and head to the beach. Catching buses is a bit difficult without any Cantonese skills, but we managed to follow the hordes and get off where we wanted to, at Stanley. I think Stanley is where the ex-pats hang out, since there's all sorts of different services there, from wine cellars to English Pubs. We first went to the beach for a swim, walking delicately through the sharp gravel sand to a shady spot. Afterwards we just happened to be walking past 'The Pickled Pelican', an ex-pat pub and caught some rugby.

That's it for now. Internet connections in China are almost always shockingly slow. More pics to follow next time. xox

Dali: A Disappointment?

2008-07-14T02:14:00.001-07:00

Well, as per the title, we're in Dali right now. Amongst the gaudy tourist shops catering towards the local Chinese tourists, you can catch rare glimpses of the town's old charm, but sadly I think the days of Dali's magic were lost years ago. Tour bus after tour bus drops Chinese tourists off outside the old gates on the south side of town and there they are greeted by locals dressed in traditional costume that take them on their whirlwind tour of the town. It's certainly not my idea of travelling, but that's what the masses are demanding, at the expense of independent travellers.

There's lots of great shopping to be done though: the local Bai people's specialty is silver jewellery and dark-blue batik and it's cheap, too. Today we went to the Shaping markets and bought some batik bags for A$2! Awesome! I think tomorrow I'll buy some more fabric and send a big parcel home.

Tomorrow we plan to catch the cable-car up the nearby mountains, some of which I believe are over 4000m above sea level. I will be taking my jacket, that's for sure. I think there is some spectacular trekking to be done around Dali, but I think we're feeling a bit apathetic for that at the moment. The food in town is too good and too cheap!

Thanks for stopping by. xox

South America in a nutshell

2008-07-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

There sure are a lot of photos to go through, but I'll try to put a few of the best ones from Peru, Ecuador and North America on here to cover the gap from the other blog. The first one here is us at Laguna 69 near Huaraz in Peru. The walk up there was pretty exhausting, as you would expect at 4000-5000m above sea level. But the view was worth it, as you can see.

The coast of Peru was awesome, although it was hard to believe it at the time since our room at Huanchaco was so dreadful (a 44 gallon drum in the shower? Electric shocks from the hot water system and unwashed bedsheets?). The photo below shows part of the restored pre-Incan ruins at Chan Chan. Before restoration you wouldn't even know there was an ancient city there since sand dunes had almost completely covered it.

Our stay in Vilcabamba, Ecuacor mostly involved food, food poisoning, wine and jungle-walking, so the only pic of note is this one, of a gorgeous transparent butterfly, but it's a spectacular photo, don't you think?

Ecuador is mountain-biking heaven, so we have loads of pics from three different trips. I didn't ride the last two, since I had a big accident on the first one and had a multicolour bruise on my bum and a worrying injury to my shoulder that took weeks to heal. The first was a ride down Chimborazo Volcano near the town of Riobamba. The weather was really cold (snow!) at the top but much more temperate near Riobamba.

The journey north to Quito was also great, and we stopped for a good few days in Banos for a rest. Banos is the Spanish word for 'bath' I think, no surprises since the town is renowned for its healing thermal springs. The downside is that the springs are heated by the very active Volcan Tungurahua. Laguna Quilotoa was also excellent, it's a young volcanic lake near Quito and in the early morning the colours were just spectacular. You'd need a really wide-angle lens to catch it all so you'll just have to extrapolate from my pics.

We finished off our stay in South America with a relaxing few weeks in Quito. Quito is a heritage-listed historic town with loads of restored colonial buildings, although the high crime rate takes the gloss off things somewhat. We spent a good few days sitting in cafes and enjoying the lovely views during the tropical thunderstorms.

There are loads of things to do in Quito but of course the itinerary included a couple of mtb trips - one to the thermal springs at Papallacta and another one down Cotopaxi Volcano. I've put two pics in here, the first is of the phenomenal view from the last refugio atop Cotopaxi (you might be able to spot Pete, the one in blue somewhere on that road).

The second pic is from the end of that day, over a thousand metres lower. Despite the mud and rain, I've never seen someone so happy as Pete after that ride!

Well, that's South America in a nutshell. When I get another chance I'll catch up with the photos from the US and Canada. Hope you like it.

Squat toilets and no language skills!

2008-07-07T22:15:00.001-07:00

I think mainland China might be more bearable than I thought. We flew into Kunming and were instantly surprised at how unexpectedly ordered the driving was, and how new all the buildings and services were. There are certainly no 30 year old Bolivian buses here, at least that we have seen so far. The toilets are another story however, but I suppose it's OK because we didn't have our sights set too high on that front anyway.

We are staying at a great hostel right in the centre of the action, and it has an outside deck where we sat last night taking in the view. At 11pm there were still people everywhere, worshipping their preferred god, the one of shopping. The progress and scale of China has to be seen to be believed, I suppose. Kunming is a modest city of about 1.4m people (I think), but is only one of hundreds, if not thousands of others.

We have absolutely no idea about the Chinese language, and are being put to shame by all the other seasoned travellers here who can get around fine with their Mandarin skills. But the Chinese people themselves are quite accommodating, and are ready to have a laugh at a moment's notice, even if they can't understand us and we can't understand them. We both feel quite stupid because we can't even order anything at a restaurant, and we have had to resort to pointing at menus and maps like a total idiot. Being so blonde at the moment has its downside - All the little kids stare at me and the girls in the shops dare each other to say 'hello'! I certainly stand out in the crowd.

We are having a quiet day today and tomorrow we are going out to the stone forest which is quite touristy but apparently worth it. It's about 120km from town. For those interested, it's an area of karst limestone pillars.

I'll also try to put up some photos from America that weren't on the previous blog.

xox for now.

Hello World

2008-07-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well, here's my first go at blogging for real, since the high cost of internet in the US killed my other rigidly-structured blog on travelblog.org. I loved writing about everything we had done, but struggled to create entries for each location.

We are both well, and enjoying our short stay in Hong Kong. We flew in from Amsterdam yesterday (the 3rd) and had to chase up our Chinese visa straight away, since the other one expired on the 2nd of July. The first travel agent wanted an onward ticket from China, so we had to shop around to find one that knew the ropes and was streamlined enough (although pricey). We picked it up this afternoon at 5.30pm, and our flight to Kunming leaves on Monday! Talk about cutting it fine......

Other than chasing up visas, we've been resting and checking out the mayhem on the streets. Oh, and dodging the Indian tailors and salesmen, they're everywhere. And they're also insistent, so you have to be a bit mean and ignore them. We're staying at the Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road so the building is filled with them.

That's it for now, will get some photos happening on the blog soon. Thanks for dropping by.