Life

Moving to New Zealand

In April 2014, after 11 months of travel, I landed back in England with a bump. My plan was to get a job as quickly as possible to start replenishing my savings that had been depleted, on my 23 country, trip round the world. I had thought the hardest part of taking a year off to travel was making the decision to go, on reflection I realise that the hardest part is having the adventure end.

Philip Island Penguin Parade

The penguin colony at Philip Island is big business with hundreds of tourists turning up every evening at dusk to see the Little Penguins return to the colony after, up to two weeks at sea. There are huge stands built on the beach to accommodate the spectators and as visitors have been watching the parade for almost one hundred years the penguins don't know any other way and we are assured that they are not bothered by all the people. In fact, the penguin population in the Philip Island colony has risen from just eight thousand to over thirty thousand in the last decade so they must be happy penguins.

A few thoughts on my 10 day vippasana meditation

How did I end up spending Christmas 2013 meditating in Central Java?
When I left England 7 months ago, I had hadn't heard of Vipassana or ever considered trying meditation. Then a friend I met in Cambodia, who had completed the course at a Dhamma Centre in Thailand, told me all about his experience a few years before he spoke about it with such passion and enthusiasm my interest was ignited. He spoke of the immense positive benefits it had brought him and how he was trying to find the time to go again.

The English Students on Holiday in Pangandaran

My new Indonesian friend, Kurnia, said he would take me to the market to get some new flip flops to replace the broken ones, abandoned in Jakarta. On the way there, he announced that he had to go by his surf school on the beach to see if there are any clients about. No new students, just Matius, a Danish guy who has been surfing in Pangandaran for a month already and a couple of local Indonesian guys. I don't really understand the conversation but I get the impression it is about me. I am then asked if I would mind going to spend some time with some Indonesian high school students who are on a weekend trip to Pangandaran with 'English Club' and the want to practise their English with a native speaker. They are gathered just down the road. I had nothing planned for that day other than flip flop shopping, a swim and lots of hammock time so, of course I agreed. Matius has spent the pervious morning with them and tells me that it is great fun.

After I quick trip to the market to purchase some bright orange flip flops, I am dropped at the park where all the students are gathered. They are sat in groups of 10 to 15 students and there are at least 8 groups. I feel as if all eyes are in me. I also feel slightly in appropriately dressed as I am dressed for the beach and not for meeting a hundred or so, very modestly dressed, Muslim, 14 to 16 year olds. I head over to the first group and join their circle on the grass. There are lots of smiling faces and nervous giggles and it feels very alien that it is my presence causing this excitement and I also feel very uncomfortable being the centre of attention.

The Green Valley - Pangandaran

I am sitting outside my room eating my breakfast of scrambled eggs, when the guide I met last night arrives. His name is Kurnia and he is a really interesting guy. He seems to have travelled the world working for a shipping company but is heart is in Pangandaran so he came back to teach surfing and take tours. He only earns a fraction of the money doing this but it makes him much happier. At 32 it is really unusual that he is not married but he knows he will have to work abroad again and he doesn't want to leave anyone behind.

Jakarta to Pangandaran

I arrive in Jakarta with 11 days to fill before the medetation course starts in Klaton, Central Java, on 22nd December. After deciding to skip out of Jakarta after only two nights that leaves 9 days to fill with only Yogyakarta on my radar. I then stumble across a place called Pangandaran on the south coast and after KL, Singapore and Jakarta quiet surf town is very appealing.
I decide to take the bus and as the bus station is an hour south of where I am staying I arrange a ticket and transfer to the bus station through a little travel agent. So two buses, the first one for an hour and the second for 9 hours.

Taman Negara - My Jungle Adventure

When initially planning my route south through the Malaysia Peninsula from Thailand to Singapore, I dismissed any thoughts of going to Taman Negara. This was mainly due to one sentence in the guide book.

"The best time to visit Taman Negara is in the dry season between February and September. During the wet season leeches come out in force"

The thought of going anywhere near this army of leeches was enough to send me heading straight for the concrete jungle instead of the actual jungle. However... everyone I seemed to speak to in the Cameron Highlands had either just come from Taman Negara or it was their next stop. I decided that I would have countless opportunities on this trip to visit cities and not many more chances, if any, to visit a rain forest. So... on my last night in The Cameron Highlands I found myself booking a ticket to Kuala Tahan instead of a Kuala Lumpur and was now tagging along with a lovely Canadian girl called Shannon.

A little 6k trek in The Cameron Highlands

The climate in the Cameron Highlands is significantly cooler then the rest of the peninsula. There are seceral numbered jungle trails across the hills and tea plantations.
We took trail #7 to the summit of Gunung Beremban. Listed as a hike that takes at three-hour for fit hikers to reach the mountain. I was being ambitious but managed to keep up. And after the event I would describe it as a climb rather than a hike.

Vietnam - Last Post

Six weeks and one day in Vietnam and so many highlights

• Swimming in the sea in the middle of a storm in Phu Quoc, warm choppy water and waves breaking on you, rain pelting down hurting your skin and bouncing off the waves whilst looking out on angry stormy skies.
• Ha Long Bay
• Stunning views in Sapa
• Amazing people in HCMC (and staying up till sunrise)
• Swimming in rivers and caves in Phong Nha
• Conversations with insightful and wise people (person) that can articulate how you feel better than you can think it.
• Somehow ordering street food without speaking Vietnamese and ending up with the most delicious meal of the trip.
• Riding on the back of a motorbike through jungle roads and central highlands
• Sunrise on the Mekong & my last sunset in Vietnam.
• Laying on the beach after dark watching an electrical storm out to sea.
• Meeting the right people at the right time. Having a travel low, then walking into a cafe and starting a conversation with someone who happens to be in a similar low and both of you walking out with a smile on your face and plans to meet later in the trip. And realising if you don't have the lows you don't notice the highs.
• Happy smiling faces and children always waving as you pass.

The Spider Family...

After too much cheap Vietnamese beer and a incident with a waiter and murdered spider. The Spider Family series was started.

Sadly I can only take credit for two of these pictures

Mui Ne

Deciding not to spend my one full day in Mui Ne on a beach I hired a bike and cycled up to the main resort. There was not much to see other than a string of hotels punctuated bu restaurants and a few travel agents so I cycled back the other way, passed my hotel to Mui Ne town and then over to the Red Sand Dunes.

Not a bad place to have a little wood and metal house. Fisherman pulling in their nets and tiny fish drying in the sun.

Nha Trang

Vietnam is, crudly speaking, long and thin. The magority of toutists I have met are either travelling north to south (like me) or south to north. This means that touse travrlling in the opposite direction to you are full of useful (and some not so useful advice) on the things youshould see and places you shoud go. Almost everyone I have met to who has been to Nha Trang has told me to skip it. "Tacky, touristy, busy, expensive, a rip off" I decided to go anyway to find out for myself. It will break up the journey between Quy Nhon and Da Lat and I want to see for myself the contrast with Quy Nhon, where i struggled to find another tourist, and Nha Trang 135 miles away

By contrast everyone I met in Nha Trang seemed to love it there, probably to do with the beach, the night life and the huge water park. It is very touristy and there are some eyesore hotels along the strip and my oppinion was somewhere in between, not somewhere I want to spend a huge amour of time but fun for a day and interesting to see.

Tulan Cave Tour

How the tour was sold...

The Tulan Cave system is an incredible system of caves that traverse under two mountains, one of which was only discovered last year. The caves have a river running through them, and much of this tour is spent swimming through the caves, a real experience in the dark and deep underground. There is much to explore and see, including waterfalls with the caves. The added bonus to this tour is the hike through the jungle to get there. This is a big day, quite challenging in places, and is one which you will not forget in a hurry!

So tentitivly booked.... but the day bedore I was due to go I found out that the tour hadnt run for two weeks for 'political reasons' so I thouht I was off thr hook. But then at the last minute it was all back on and my name was down so without really thinking about it I was on my way.

To start we had to carry the kit to the beginning of the treck...

Sapa

Sapa is 380 km (or 8 hours on a sleeper bus) north-west of Hanoi
Established as a hill station by the French in 1922, overlooking rice terraces and surrounded by mountains and clouds. We were lucky to visit on sunny days.

Arriving in Vietnam

My flight from Honk Kong to Hanoi was over two hours late but luckily I had booked a room in an hotel room at the airport so I didn't have to try and find somewhere to stay in Hanoi in the dark.
The next day I took the bus from the airport to the city. It was easy enough but hilarious. The bus had a big flat screen tv at the front showing some kind of Vietnamese version of The X factor.
Also a little way into the journey we were wedged into the smallest petrol station to full up with fuel. That doesn't happen on the National Express.

Xian to Hong Kong (via Guangzhou and Shenzhen)

As you cannot get the train directly from Xian to Hong Kong I had to get the train to Guangzhou. The train took 7 and a half hours. This was definitely a food sharing train, I was given a peach and some brown dried things in a packet, not sure what they were but they tasted fine.

The hostel in Guangzhou was definitely the strangest I have stayed in. It felt like I was staying in some ones apartment. The father sat in the corner and painted. The mother seemed to be the cleaner and the daughter dealt with the bookings. Most of the other guests were young Chinese girls who had moved to Guangzhou for work or to look for work and seemed to be permanent residents of the hostel, and some seemed to have been there so long they were part of the family.

Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses

Bus number 306 from Xian main railway station. I knew I was in the right place as it was the only bus with a queue. And the queue stretched a long way... in the rain.

Beijing to Xian

I don't think these pictures do justice to how huge and intimidating Beijing West Railway Station is. (What i am trying to say is that i am very brave) When you arrive their are hundreds of people sitting with bags and suitcase outside. You can only get into the station if you have a ticket and ID that relates to that ticket.

All change

The Trans Siberian tour is over and everyone who I have spent the last two weeks with fly home or off to different adventures. Including my dad.

I also go from 4 star....

Minsk to Moscow

It would have been nice to be able to say that I was traveling all the way from London to Hong Kong overland, but I am cheating between Minsk and Moscow, and flying.

I just needed to workout how to get to Minsk airport first.

A taxi to the airport is 40€ and the bus is 2€ - So bus it is.

We asked the girl in the hostel to write us a note which said something along the lines of "please can we have two tickets to the airport on the 8.25 bus, on 30th June". We had walked through the bus station numerous times on the way into the city so thought we were set.

We got to the bus station and checked all the bus stops but couldn't see where the 300E stopped. We also couldn't see the ticket office which we thought was a bit strange.

We went to see the woman at this counter. We gave her out bit of paper. She read it twice. Looked confused, shook her head and gave it back.