Bagan: Breathtaking and Beguiling
Travel Blog | July 28, 2012 | 6 Comments
How to get to Bagan? Boat & Bus Basics From Mandalay we had intended to reach Bagan by boat, sailing down the river for 12 or so hours, alas the low season meant this did not fit our itinerary. The fast boats only run in the peak season, so we were left at the mercy of […]
Mandalay Payas, Monks and Monasteries
Travel Blog | July 25, 2012 | 6 Comments
The Road out of Mandalay Our last Myanmar travel blog post covered the city of Mandalay, but a visit here has much more to offer the traveller. The surrounding religious sites and countryside add greatly to a visit to Myanmar’s last royal capital. So after you’ve had your fill of the bustling markets and delicious […]
Myanmar: From Yangon to Mandalay
Travel Blog | July 22, 2012 | 9 Comments
The Train Journey from Yangon to Mandalay Our first impressions of Myanmar Burma had been underwhelming. We couldn’t wait to leave Yangon and decided to take the train to Mandalay. The train is not a popular travel option for visitors to Burma, most fly or take a bus when touring around. Ask a local and […]
Myanmar: Arriving in Yangon Rangoon
Travel Blog | July 20, 2012 | 6 Comments
First Impressions of Burma: Yangon (Rangoon) We arrived in Yangon just over an hour after leaving the tarmac at Bangkok’s International Airport. It was a very early flight and John and I had managed only about three hours sleep after meeting an interesting Fillipino woman, in the bar at the airport hotel, who we ended […]
Travel Blog | July 7, 2012 | 0 Comments
Our admin days over we arrived at 9am at Bangkok Airport to collect our family (my twin sister Kay, my niece Karlie and her boyfriend Tal) from their 13hour flight. They arrived remarkably refreshed despite what they described as bumpy journey and some terrible in flight food. Don Muang and Nok Air to Koh Samui […]
Myanmar Visa in Bangkok and Some Travel Gadgets
Travel Blog | July 1, 2012 | 5 Comments
Thailand Border Visa Hassles After our wonderful lazy few nights in Battambang in Cambodia it was a bus journey back to Phnom Penh in order to catch our flight to Bangkok. We had intended to go overland direct from Battambang into Thailand but the 15 day visa limit on land crossings; and an extortionate charge […]
Flashpacking thoughts from Cambodia
Travel Blog | June 23, 2012 | 0 Comments
Cambodia Final Thoughts We cannot start a travel blog post about Cambodia without first mentioning the people. We spent a month in Cambodia, and everybody we met here was charming and friendly. I would say this is the most friendly and happy place we have come across on our travels. From the children in […]
Travel Blog | June 16, 2012 | 6 Comments
Cambodia’s Second City Battambang is one the quietest places we visited in Cambodia, and it was a really good way to end our Cambodian experience. The city is Cambodia’s second largest city, but it feels nothing like Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. Tourism here continues to be a by-product of daily life and your choice […]
Siem Reap and Angkor Wat Temples
Travel Blog | June 11, 2012 | 1 Comments
From Sihanoukville we decided that another 12 hour bus marathon may be a little too much for our relaxed state of mind, so we decided to break the journey up with a visit back to Phnom Penh for an evening en route to Siem Reap. The journey was again by coach and was labelled at about […]
The Cambodian Coast and Beaches
Travel Blog | May 31, 2012 | 9 Comments
Kep Crab Market From the capital we moved on to the coastal town of Kep situated about four hours from Phnom Penh. Soraya transport will whisk you there for the princely sum of six dollars, on an air conditioned bus that just about hits the comfort tag, especially if you are partial to Cambodian […]
India Car Rental and Driver Hire
How to Rent a Car and Driver in India We’d like to share our experience, and a few of the stories we learned about renting a car and driver from our two week tour of Rajasthan. Like arranging other things in India, it is not always as simple or easy as you may first imagine. […]
Photo Flashback – Kerala Kathakali Dance
We are not really ones for the cultural shows that you regularly find in travel destinations. Often they are a thin representation of the actual song or dance traditions of a community, overpriced and leave you feeling a little bit cheated. This was certainly the case in Waitangi doing the Haka with some actors. Sometimes […]
Goa Retirement, Revamps and a bit of Home Cooking
We hang about in Goa for our remaining time in India sampling foods from home and join the large expat community and retired folk enjoying what is on offer. We had decided in Udaipur that it was time to invest some time doing some work on the blog. Our traffic has been growing steadily over […]
Udaipur And A Break From Travel Blogging
For those arriving at this travel blog post hoping to find out detailed information about our experiences and things to do in Udaipur, leave now, as you’ll need to look elsewhere instead. The hectic schedule of our last two weeks on the road with our driver had wearied us a little. The thought of seeing […]
India Rajasthan and Golden Triangle Itinerary
Two Week Itinerary for Rajasthan and the Golden Triangle You can get to see some of the top sights in Rajasthan and the Golden Triangle in India in fourteen days or less, it will not be a restful experience, but you will gain a lifetime of memories and images from the magnificent Taj Mahal to […]
Jodhpur and the Road to Udaipur
Jodhpur – The Blue City It was a long drive to Jodhpur, our second to last destination in Rajasthan, before waving off our driver. The three restful days in Jaisalmer and our separation from each other had allowed driver and passenger relations to be restored to more friendly less tense mood levels. So we set off […]
In our last travel blog post I mentioned that I had done another diving course. I’ve included some underwater photographs and videos taken whilst I was on this course. We stayed in Bohol, longer than anywhere else in the Philippines, because of the excellent diving sites at very reasonable prices. Bohol is a magnet […]
A delay in this post has been caused by very slow internet connections throughout the last part of our travels in the Philippines. Apologies. However, it now means you have a fun packed bumper blog of travel frustrations, cute monkeys, the chocolate hills and a small slightly disappointing beach. Weather Retreat Given the weather we […]
Donsol, Whale Sharks and Legazpi
Reluctant as we were to leave the beauty of Saud beach we had a lot more Filipino treasures to explore. From the relaxing, serene shores of Saud beach, we headed south towards Donsol in search of some whale sharks. The weather proved challenging, but the wildlife made it all worthwhile. From Pagudpud we reversed […]
Ilocos Norte, Pagudpud and Saud Beach
The ‘Borocay of the North’ is the strapline trying to attach itself to this beautiful part of Ilocos Norte in the Philippines. While I cannot make the comparison yet, I believe Saud Beach in Pagudpud really is a little hidden gem that may eventually give its more famous southern cousin a run for its peso. We […]
Manila and the road to Pagudpud
We arrived in the Philippines on board another Jetstar flight at around 8pm on a Saturday. Having left Bali we had a brief layover in Singapore before our arrival in Manila. The immigration, customs and baggage pick up went like a dream and we were out of the airport within half an hour of touching down. This […]