ok, I've been here 2 weeks now, waited to post while I was busy surprising people.. :)
My trip was fantastic, don't regret any of it one bit, it was exactly what I needed.
Jordan's head = clear.
My last little bit in Australia included a trip to the Gold Coast where I visited a good friend, held/got pooped on by a koala, fed pretty rainbow lorikeets, stood on the most easterly point of Australia at Cape Byron, then went to Sydney and visited the city and a couple of friends, and said goodbye to my 20's with lots of beer and food.
Coming home was a bit of an adjustment, mainly going from summer to winter in the space of a 22 hour flight.
Back to school with me in January, I can hardly wait!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Great Ocean Road
Gorgeous.
Plus I had my first ride in a helicopter and flew over the 12 Apostles.. was sooo fantastic :)
Came home and slept 11 hours. LOL.
Plus I had my first ride in a helicopter and flew over the 12 Apostles.. was sooo fantastic :)
Came home and slept 11 hours. LOL.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Melbourne
It's been over a week since I last wrote... so yeah.. lazy. That's exactly what I've needed to be though, I was so travelled out that even when I got to Sydney, where I've never been before, I had limited energy to do stuff!!
I stayed with a lovely couple that I met on tour in Cambodia, they even picked me up and dropped me off at the airport.. so nice :) They were quite close to the Sydney CBD so it was easy to walk down there and take a look at the Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay, etc. I wandered down Oxford St, which is a gay area in Sydney. It was okay, not a busy evening, not too many people about.
Flew into Avalon airport, which is way the hell out from the city (50km or so), but my new housemate, who is lovely, came and picked me up.
My new place is in Coburg, a suburb north of central Melbourne, takes about 40 mins between walking and taking a train to get into the city, not too far. I'm in a lovely 3 level townhouse, have my own bathroom with a jacuzzi tub, and a balcony off my room. Yeah.
My week has consisted of exploring the city a bit, meeting new mates that I've been chatting to online, getting my bank account established, and just generally taking it easy. I'm starting to get a bit restless though... time to find a job.
I had dinner this evening with an old work colleague (and her partner), she works for STA Travel, which is basically the equivalent of Travel CUTS, marketing predominantly to the student/youth/budget market. I plan to apply there among other places :)
Time for bed.. tired boy here.. :)
I stayed with a lovely couple that I met on tour in Cambodia, they even picked me up and dropped me off at the airport.. so nice :) They were quite close to the Sydney CBD so it was easy to walk down there and take a look at the Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay, etc. I wandered down Oxford St, which is a gay area in Sydney. It was okay, not a busy evening, not too many people about.
Flew into Avalon airport, which is way the hell out from the city (50km or so), but my new housemate, who is lovely, came and picked me up.
My new place is in Coburg, a suburb north of central Melbourne, takes about 40 mins between walking and taking a train to get into the city, not too far. I'm in a lovely 3 level townhouse, have my own bathroom with a jacuzzi tub, and a balcony off my room. Yeah.
My week has consisted of exploring the city a bit, meeting new mates that I've been chatting to online, getting my bank account established, and just generally taking it easy. I'm starting to get a bit restless though... time to find a job.
I had dinner this evening with an old work colleague (and her partner), she works for STA Travel, which is basically the equivalent of Travel CUTS, marketing predominantly to the student/youth/budget market. I plan to apply there among other places :)
Time for bed.. tired boy here.. :)
Sunday, November 9, 2008
On to the next leg...
The trip to Hoi An was uneventful and relatively easy, with the exception of the cab driver who basically ripped me off, and he knew that I knew he was ripping me off. Oh well. Suffice it to say it cost twice as much as going to the airport in Vancouver, and it's shorter distance.
I got to Hoi An and all was better. I was being wooed by tailor shops before I even got out of the taxi, but ended up choosing the one that my little guesthouse recommended, who did a fantastic job, cost a bit more but I got a really, really nice suit. And nice dress shoes. And PJ's. For about $250, custom fit, done in less than 24 hours. Love this place. The lady at the tailor shop and I struck up a rapport instantly, she was shocked when I told her something similar at home would probably have cost $1000 just for the suit, and taken much longer.
The rest of my time in Hoi An was spent relaxing, mostly in my hotel room as it was stinking hot outside (with humidity).. but I came out and wandered during the evenings, finding a nice place to eat each night.
Today, I was up at 530am, to get a 600am taxi to Danang (closest airport, 30km away), on the plane at 830am, 1 hour flight, 5 hours in Saigon airport (which has been updated quite nicely since I was last here), then 2 hours more to Singapore. Got through immigration quickly, and into my lovely, really super posh hotel (Crowne Plaza Changi Airport if you want to have a look). After some dramas getting electricity (lol), got my computer up and running (what would I do without internet, lol), and then headed out into the terminal building (hotel is attached to airport) to find some dinner.
I can't wait to drop into bed tonight! I think I maybe got 2 hour sleep last night.
I'll report next when I get to Melbourne..
I got to Hoi An and all was better. I was being wooed by tailor shops before I even got out of the taxi, but ended up choosing the one that my little guesthouse recommended, who did a fantastic job, cost a bit more but I got a really, really nice suit. And nice dress shoes. And PJ's. For about $250, custom fit, done in less than 24 hours. Love this place. The lady at the tailor shop and I struck up a rapport instantly, she was shocked when I told her something similar at home would probably have cost $1000 just for the suit, and taken much longer.
The rest of my time in Hoi An was spent relaxing, mostly in my hotel room as it was stinking hot outside (with humidity).. but I came out and wandered during the evenings, finding a nice place to eat each night.
Today, I was up at 530am, to get a 600am taxi to Danang (closest airport, 30km away), on the plane at 830am, 1 hour flight, 5 hours in Saigon airport (which has been updated quite nicely since I was last here), then 2 hours more to Singapore. Got through immigration quickly, and into my lovely, really super posh hotel (Crowne Plaza Changi Airport if you want to have a look). After some dramas getting electricity (lol), got my computer up and running (what would I do without internet, lol), and then headed out into the terminal building (hotel is attached to airport) to find some dinner.
I can't wait to drop into bed tonight! I think I maybe got 2 hour sleep last night.
I'll report next when I get to Melbourne..
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Saigon
Our last few days in Cambodia were lovely.. we went to Kampot for one night, a lovely little town that I could have had an extra day in. Very picturesque riverside little place :)
On the road to Sihanoukville, we caught our first glimpse of the sea.. I was soooo happy. Hadn't seen the ocean since I was in Malaysia nearly a month earlier. Made me very very happy. Jordan will never live away from the sea :)
Sihanoukville was our beach component of this trip.. it was beautiful, but very very hot. I stayed in the air-con room and watched movies most of the time! Went to the beach for dinners both nights we were there, was very pleasant. Lots of people selling things on the beach, and some poor souls begging (I gave one or two some food rather than money, for which they seemed quite grateful!).
Back to Phnom Penh for our final night as a tour group, we all went out to dinner, and called it an early night. We had all swapped contact details earlier in the trip.
Up early the next day... on the minibus, all by myself (except for the tour leader and driver, my two tourmates who were supposed to do this leg of the trip bowed out of it), for the 4 hour drive to the Vietnam border, where my tour leader saw me through exit formalities and said goodbye.
There is a 500m or so long causeway from the exit area from Cambodia to the Vietnam entry point, along which a motorcycle followed me, the driver wanting to charge me to carry me and my things down the causeway. He wasn't aggressive but he wasn't taking no for an answer.. eventually he have up, but only as I was nearing the building! After I got through Vietnam immigration and customs, which was a quick procedure, I was met by the local Gecko's representative and he put me in a car and off we went. Took about 2 hours to get to Saigon.
I wanted a city tour of Saigon, since the last time I was here it was my arrival point and I was so jetlagged that I didn't remember much of it, so the Gecko's fellow arranged for it the following day, a private tour just for me :) Spent the rest of the afternoon/evening in my hotel room just resting.
Got met at 9am for my city tour, which was fantastic, saw the Reunification Palace, the War Remnants Museum (very sad), the Municipal Post Office (built in the early 19th century), where I was able to ship a package home, also the Cathedral (same era as the Post Office), yummy lunch at a local restaurant where I was the only tourist in there, a Buddhist/Taoist temple, and the market at Chinatown. Was awesome. Back at the hotel where I just watched movies and chilled out the rest of the day.
That brings us to today... I need to get packed soon, as I have to leave for my flight in an hour or so. I'm headed to Danang, from which I will take a taxi to Hoi An, where there are hundreds of tailors who will get custom fit clothing together in an hour and for a fraction of the cost at home. I was in Hoi An two years ago when I came to Vietnam, I had a suit (among other things) made at the time, but I've since dropped about 40lbs, so I need another one!
Off I go to pack! Next time I report may very well be when I arrive in Australia.
Thank you for reading my blog everyone! :) :)
On the road to Sihanoukville, we caught our first glimpse of the sea.. I was soooo happy. Hadn't seen the ocean since I was in Malaysia nearly a month earlier. Made me very very happy. Jordan will never live away from the sea :)
Sihanoukville was our beach component of this trip.. it was beautiful, but very very hot. I stayed in the air-con room and watched movies most of the time! Went to the beach for dinners both nights we were there, was very pleasant. Lots of people selling things on the beach, and some poor souls begging (I gave one or two some food rather than money, for which they seemed quite grateful!).
Back to Phnom Penh for our final night as a tour group, we all went out to dinner, and called it an early night. We had all swapped contact details earlier in the trip.
Up early the next day... on the minibus, all by myself (except for the tour leader and driver, my two tourmates who were supposed to do this leg of the trip bowed out of it), for the 4 hour drive to the Vietnam border, where my tour leader saw me through exit formalities and said goodbye.
There is a 500m or so long causeway from the exit area from Cambodia to the Vietnam entry point, along which a motorcycle followed me, the driver wanting to charge me to carry me and my things down the causeway. He wasn't aggressive but he wasn't taking no for an answer.. eventually he have up, but only as I was nearing the building! After I got through Vietnam immigration and customs, which was a quick procedure, I was met by the local Gecko's representative and he put me in a car and off we went. Took about 2 hours to get to Saigon.
I wanted a city tour of Saigon, since the last time I was here it was my arrival point and I was so jetlagged that I didn't remember much of it, so the Gecko's fellow arranged for it the following day, a private tour just for me :) Spent the rest of the afternoon/evening in my hotel room just resting.
Got met at 9am for my city tour, which was fantastic, saw the Reunification Palace, the War Remnants Museum (very sad), the Municipal Post Office (built in the early 19th century), where I was able to ship a package home, also the Cathedral (same era as the Post Office), yummy lunch at a local restaurant where I was the only tourist in there, a Buddhist/Taoist temple, and the market at Chinatown. Was awesome. Back at the hotel where I just watched movies and chilled out the rest of the day.
That brings us to today... I need to get packed soon, as I have to leave for my flight in an hour or so. I'm headed to Danang, from which I will take a taxi to Hoi An, where there are hundreds of tailors who will get custom fit clothing together in an hour and for a fraction of the cost at home. I was in Hoi An two years ago when I came to Vietnam, I had a suit (among other things) made at the time, but I've since dropped about 40lbs, so I need another one!
Off I go to pack! Next time I report may very well be when I arrive in Australia.
Thank you for reading my blog everyone! :) :)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Cambodia
Sorry it's been such a long delay since the last post... internet has been so slow that blogger.com hasn't wanted to work. LOL.
My last couple of days in Laos were ok.. we took a bus from Vang Vieng to Vientiane (the capital city), took about 5 hours. We just had one night in Vientiane, did a brief walking tour, which basically consisted of a couple of temples and a drink by the rivereside. Just a big busy city really.. although not as busy as Bangkok or Beijing.
We has to wake up at 3:30 in the morning to get transferred to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap (Cambodia, for the geographically challenged). We said goodbye to our Laotian tour leader and got checked in for our flight.
Upon arrival in Siem Reap (which has a lovely airport), we got our visas and through immigration relatively quickly. Our new tour leader met us and got us to our quite posh hotel, the nicest we had been in so far. All I did for the rest of the afternoon was eat lunch and watch movies, it was so hot and I was so tired from the early wake up call; that's all I had energy for. That night we all went to a buffet dinner/cultural dance show, was okay, I was so exhausted that I didn't pay much attention.
Next day was a temple marathon.. starting with Angkor Wat, which was quite impressive but not quite as good as I was expecting, perhaps because it gets so much hype. Ta Phrom (sp?) was the next temple, where the tree roots are growing through/slowly destroying the temple, this is where Tomb Raider was filmed. Some locals call it Angelina Jolie Temple, lol. Several more temples followed, they were all very beautiful and impressive. The last item on the days agenda was a climb up a hill to watch the sunset, which was nice but then we got to witness (and get the brunt of) the rainy season .. the skies literally opened up and we were soaked. Coming down the footpath to the bottom of the hill, completely saturated, trying to keep my camera bag protected, with thousands of people around me and the daylight quickly disappearing, proved quite challenging. Finding the bus in the mess of people, tuktuk's, buses, cars, giant puddles, new rivers formed by the lack of drainage, and still trying my best to keep my camera from getting destroyed, was also quite challenging. Eventually I located the bus and got aboard, I was the second last to do so, everyone else was as wet as me. Camera - survived. Back to the hotel where we all ate in the attached restaurant, I was happy about this as my shoes were busy drying off and thus I just had bare feet to walk around in.
Our last full day in Siem Reap was relaxing.. slept in until 930, wandered the streets and the old market, sat and had drinks with my tourmates, spilled my drink all over my freshly dried shoes, had a TWO HOUR full body massage which was WONDERFUL, and cost $14. Lunch followed, then I was tuckered out from all of the exerting myself that I took a tuktuk back to the hotel and relaxed. Dinner in the hotel again this evening.
Next day we were off on a bus for Phnom Penh, about a 5 hour journey along relatively well-maintained road. The journey included a stop in a small village where the local specialty is fried tarantulas, which I tried (you eat the legs only).. tasted a bit like chicken. They had a nice marinade on them. They also had live tarantulas, which everyone was taking a turn holding, I was quite apprehensive about doing so but gave it a go anyways. Not so bad. Their fangs had been removed anyway.
Continued on to the big city, quite busy and dirty again (common theme around these parts!). Got checked into our hotel and had a short siesta before heading out again. We got tuktuk's to the Russian Market, which is probably one of the best indoor markets I've seen this trip so far. So amazing, anything you could possibly want, good bargains to be had. I had already done a bit of shopping in Siem Reap, so I followed my tourmates around and watched them bargain for lower prices. Quite entertaining. To the riverfront for dinner, then back to the hotel.
That brings us to today.. busy, busy day. Out the door at 800, where we had a cyclo tour of Phnom Penh city including the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, and finishing at the central market. The central market was ok but not as good as the Russian Market. Had a lovely lunch and back to the hotel for a short siesta, and headed out again by bus.. visited the genocide museum and killing fields during the afternoon. Very, very sad and tragic what happened here, recent history really (the Khmer Rouge regime started in 1975). Was quite sobering hearing about the brutality that went on. I won't go on about it, google it and read for yourself.
After our days visit, we returned to the hotel and headed out to a lovely little restaurant/chef school for dinner. This school is staffed by former street kids who are learning to cook and serve.. was absolutely fantastic.
OK.. that was a long one. I'm off to bed shortly, we are on the bus to Kampot tomorrow (for one night) then Sihanoukville, which is right on the coast (Gulf of Thailand) for a couple of nights beachside time, then back to Phnom Penh for one more night. That's basically the end of the tour, I've got a bus ride to Saigon after that to start the last leg of this journey. I'll likely report again from Vietnam once I arrive.. Ciao!
My last couple of days in Laos were ok.. we took a bus from Vang Vieng to Vientiane (the capital city), took about 5 hours. We just had one night in Vientiane, did a brief walking tour, which basically consisted of a couple of temples and a drink by the rivereside. Just a big busy city really.. although not as busy as Bangkok or Beijing.
We has to wake up at 3:30 in the morning to get transferred to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap (Cambodia, for the geographically challenged). We said goodbye to our Laotian tour leader and got checked in for our flight.
Upon arrival in Siem Reap (which has a lovely airport), we got our visas and through immigration relatively quickly. Our new tour leader met us and got us to our quite posh hotel, the nicest we had been in so far. All I did for the rest of the afternoon was eat lunch and watch movies, it was so hot and I was so tired from the early wake up call; that's all I had energy for. That night we all went to a buffet dinner/cultural dance show, was okay, I was so exhausted that I didn't pay much attention.
Next day was a temple marathon.. starting with Angkor Wat, which was quite impressive but not quite as good as I was expecting, perhaps because it gets so much hype. Ta Phrom (sp?) was the next temple, where the tree roots are growing through/slowly destroying the temple, this is where Tomb Raider was filmed. Some locals call it Angelina Jolie Temple, lol. Several more temples followed, they were all very beautiful and impressive. The last item on the days agenda was a climb up a hill to watch the sunset, which was nice but then we got to witness (and get the brunt of) the rainy season .. the skies literally opened up and we were soaked. Coming down the footpath to the bottom of the hill, completely saturated, trying to keep my camera bag protected, with thousands of people around me and the daylight quickly disappearing, proved quite challenging. Finding the bus in the mess of people, tuktuk's, buses, cars, giant puddles, new rivers formed by the lack of drainage, and still trying my best to keep my camera from getting destroyed, was also quite challenging. Eventually I located the bus and got aboard, I was the second last to do so, everyone else was as wet as me. Camera - survived. Back to the hotel where we all ate in the attached restaurant, I was happy about this as my shoes were busy drying off and thus I just had bare feet to walk around in.
Our last full day in Siem Reap was relaxing.. slept in until 930, wandered the streets and the old market, sat and had drinks with my tourmates, spilled my drink all over my freshly dried shoes, had a TWO HOUR full body massage which was WONDERFUL, and cost $14. Lunch followed, then I was tuckered out from all of the exerting myself that I took a tuktuk back to the hotel and relaxed. Dinner in the hotel again this evening.
Next day we were off on a bus for Phnom Penh, about a 5 hour journey along relatively well-maintained road. The journey included a stop in a small village where the local specialty is fried tarantulas, which I tried (you eat the legs only).. tasted a bit like chicken. They had a nice marinade on them. They also had live tarantulas, which everyone was taking a turn holding, I was quite apprehensive about doing so but gave it a go anyways. Not so bad. Their fangs had been removed anyway.
Continued on to the big city, quite busy and dirty again (common theme around these parts!). Got checked into our hotel and had a short siesta before heading out again. We got tuktuk's to the Russian Market, which is probably one of the best indoor markets I've seen this trip so far. So amazing, anything you could possibly want, good bargains to be had. I had already done a bit of shopping in Siem Reap, so I followed my tourmates around and watched them bargain for lower prices. Quite entertaining. To the riverfront for dinner, then back to the hotel.
That brings us to today.. busy, busy day. Out the door at 800, where we had a cyclo tour of Phnom Penh city including the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, and finishing at the central market. The central market was ok but not as good as the Russian Market. Had a lovely lunch and back to the hotel for a short siesta, and headed out again by bus.. visited the genocide museum and killing fields during the afternoon. Very, very sad and tragic what happened here, recent history really (the Khmer Rouge regime started in 1975). Was quite sobering hearing about the brutality that went on. I won't go on about it, google it and read for yourself.
After our days visit, we returned to the hotel and headed out to a lovely little restaurant/chef school for dinner. This school is staffed by former street kids who are learning to cook and serve.. was absolutely fantastic.
OK.. that was a long one. I'm off to bed shortly, we are on the bus to Kampot tomorrow (for one night) then Sihanoukville, which is right on the coast (Gulf of Thailand) for a couple of nights beachside time, then back to Phnom Penh for one more night. That's basically the end of the tour, I've got a bus ride to Saigon after that to start the last leg of this journey. I'll likely report again from Vietnam once I arrive.. Ciao!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Vang Vieng
The bus ride from Luang Prabang was 6 hours of HELL.
We got to the bus station at 8am, got on a barely air-conditioned rickety bus, and proceeded through very beautiful, mountainous countryside, where the driver accelerated into the sharp curves and honked the large blast horn at people (including small children), livestock, vehicles, etc that were on the side/in the middle of the road. Good times. LOL.
Vang Vieng is a lovely little town, made me feel a little homesick with the mountains to the north of the main part of town. Hotel is fantastic and super comfortable. We arrives mid-afternoon and caught a tuk-tuk to our accommodation, spent most of the rest of the day chilling out on the roof-top patio and eventually headed off to find dinner. Towards the end of dinner, and basically for the rest of the night, it poured rain and thundered like I have never seen in my life! It was fantastic. Slept very soundly.
Today we were up and out to one of the mountains where we climbed 147 steps up to a cave entrance.. was really cool (but not quite as big as the ones I saw in in Halong Bay, Vietnam). Myself and the girls (shocker I've befriended and spent most of my time with the women) spent some time at a riverside bar and then back to the hotel and our for lunch. Came back and found this lovely free wireless internet, yay! Sipping on a coconut shake as we speak.. mmmmmmmmm
Tonight will be an early night, we are off very early tomorrow morning, a 3 hour (and apparently less hairy) bus ride to the Laotian capital, Vientiane. Tomorrow is our last day in this lovely place!
We got to the bus station at 8am, got on a barely air-conditioned rickety bus, and proceeded through very beautiful, mountainous countryside, where the driver accelerated into the sharp curves and honked the large blast horn at people (including small children), livestock, vehicles, etc that were on the side/in the middle of the road. Good times. LOL.
Vang Vieng is a lovely little town, made me feel a little homesick with the mountains to the north of the main part of town. Hotel is fantastic and super comfortable. We arrives mid-afternoon and caught a tuk-tuk to our accommodation, spent most of the rest of the day chilling out on the roof-top patio and eventually headed off to find dinner. Towards the end of dinner, and basically for the rest of the night, it poured rain and thundered like I have never seen in my life! It was fantastic. Slept very soundly.
Today we were up and out to one of the mountains where we climbed 147 steps up to a cave entrance.. was really cool (but not quite as big as the ones I saw in in Halong Bay, Vietnam). Myself and the girls (shocker I've befriended and spent most of my time with the women) spent some time at a riverside bar and then back to the hotel and our for lunch. Came back and found this lovely free wireless internet, yay! Sipping on a coconut shake as we speak.. mmmmmmmmm
Tonight will be an early night, we are off very early tomorrow morning, a 3 hour (and apparently less hairy) bus ride to the Laotian capital, Vientiane. Tomorrow is our last day in this lovely place!
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