Merry Chrismas

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In best blue peter fasion the pic above is one I prepared earlier.

Seasons greetings and Merry Christmas to you all, if anyone online today, from a slightly damp New Zealand - no snow (too warm) but rain.

Penguin watching (me)

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Since the parents like birdwatching, I thought that the Otago peninsula in Duneden would be worth a day trip, and to have a break from driving we took a tour. It was wet and windy all day, and the low cloud prevented any views of the harbor, but the birdlife made up for it, more pictures on flickr, including royal albatross in flight.

Back to Dunedidn

Picked up the parents in Christcurch on Thursday, so I get to retrace my steps, going around the South island in a clockwise direction for a change, so it was back to Lake Tekapo last night, now Duneden. I will probably upload my pictures tomorrow, so look out for shots of Albatross & Penguins.

Wendsday on Mount Sunday

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Just been off to Mount Sunday (more of a small hill) today - although Lord of the Rings fans may recognize is as something else, the location used for Edoras.
Sadly there is little sign left from the filming, but the location is still spectacular.

Whale photos

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Whale photos, plus some dolphins, are now online, the delay was caused by a lack of wi-fi access in Picton, but since I'm now back in Christchurch I can get back to uploading photos.

Kaikoura

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I'm now in Kaikoura, whale watching capital of NZ, that is when its not too rough for the boats to go out. Hopefully the weather will moderate so look out for some pictures of whales soon.

Addrenalin, sounds and islands

Just a quck update on my activities over the last few days. Queenstown started with an afternoon of fhotography, followed by a day of jetboating, mountain biking and white water rafting. To relax I spent my last day in Queenstown flying by wire, before hading for the splendors of Milford and Doubtfull sounds. I'm curently at the southenmost point of my tour, the sleepy little Stuart island.

Wanaka and Queenstown

I know, its been a couple of days - blame the slow and expensive net connection in Wanaka. Queenstown is a little bit faster, but best of all FREE, so I'm finaly able to get the backlog of pictures onto Flickr. Speaking of which, if you look to the right and down a bit you should spot a slide show of my shots - just click on the image to get a larger view.

Going on at the moment are some shots taken on a flight over Mt Aspiring (LotR fans may recognize it from the start of the two towers) on a beautiful clear day. Other adventures in Wanaka included some shooting (targets and clay pigeons), a visit to the chaotic toy and transport museum (8 aircraft, 400 cars and about 10,000 toys crammed into three sheds), getting lost in the puzzle world maze (the exit was the hardest thing to find), a visit to some more LotR locations and a windy sailing trip on the lake (no photos, too busy holding onto the tiller).

Just getting some airtime

Since the last post the weather at Franz Joseph didn't improve enough to catch a helicopter up to the ice, so I had to walk up instead. Fox Glacier (mints) just down the road had better weather, so I was able to catch a ride on a chopper to about half way up, despite the cloud blanketing the top of the valley (see photos in the usual place some time in the future).

It was then on to Wanaka for another flight, but this one was cramped, and the food was terrible, so I got out early.

At around 15,000 feet it was a bit of a jump, but I did survive (and I've got the DVD and T-shirt to prove it). I got my revenge on flying things today by shooting some inocent plastic disks with a shotgun.

Quadbiking in glacier country

It's been too wet today to get a helecopter ride up the Glacier, so I tried something else instead.

Pulling pints in Greymouth

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Apologies for the lack of posts recently, but I've had a fairly busy few days. South Island started in cloud and rain, which was a pity since the ferry route into Picton was spectacular. It was then straight on to sunny Nelson for a bit more wine tasting and a long walk along the coast in the Able Tasman National Park. Next stop was a rainy Greymouth for a quick overnight stop and brewery tour. I'm curently in Franz Joseph waiting for the weather to clear enough to get a helicopter ride up to the glacier for some ice hiking.

Photos on Flickr are also up to date, so go take a look.

So long North Island (for now)

Just a quick update from Wellington, my last stop in the north of New Zealand before I hit the ferry tomorrow morning for the south. From the Bay of Islands its been a slog south, interrupted by a brief bit of cave rafting and gyser watching (its amazing what a bit of soap powder can do) back to Wellington.

Next stop will be Napier, where I'll be looking for a fast wi-fi connection so that I can upload some more pics.

Northland

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Just a quick update on the last few days.
I headed north out of Auckland to the Bay of Islands, just in time to catch the deliberate sinking of the ex-NZ Navy frigate Canterbury (its being turned into an artificial reef and dive site) in front of a small crowd of boats. It was then time to head further north via 90 mile beach (which is actually 60 miles long to Cape Reinga, which is the most northerly accessible point in New Zealand.

After a brief stay in Aukland I'm back in Rotarua, having tried out Cave tubing.

Sailing the city of sails

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More AC class sailing, and unlike Sydney the wind was light and shifty. I still managed a good 2 hours sail, so it went a bit better. I followed up the sail with a wander around the Maritime museum, so overall had a bit of a nautical day.

PS I just noticed that the posting time is UK time - its 13 hours ahead here, so I'm already into november.

Mt Maungnaui

I survived the wine tasting yesturday (having inbibed a few samples of realy nice wines) so it was time to get on the bus again and continue north to the beach resort of Mt Maungnaui. Had another few hours to wander around Rotarua again,before reaching the coast and heading for the hot salt water baths with a couple of hot blonds (unfortunatly they both have boyfriends back home) before a nice fish & chips supper.

Dancing in Wellington

I'ts amazing what you find out after chatting to someone on the train. I turned out that there was a Ceroc dance weekend on in Wellington (its been a long weekend here) so I've been busy dancing the night away, plus attending workshops during the day.

I then stayed in Wellington an extra day to do a Lord or the Rings film locations tour, which due to a lack of participants turned out to be an individual tour.

I'm now in the Art deco town of Napier, and looking forward to a wine tour tomorrow.

Land of the long white cloud

I arrived in the land of the Kiwi safely last night, just a bit late due to a mix up of flight times due to a typo on my itinery. I still managed to join my coach tour this morning though, and moved out from Aukland to Rotorua via some caves filled with glow worms.

Now all I have to do is find a cheap net cafe to upload my photos.

Great Ocean Road

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The photo above is The Grotto, one of the stranger places on Victorias Shipwreck coast, reached by that little track known as the Great Ocean Road (Australians not known for understatements).

Since it's such a drivers road I decided that I needed something better than the standard hire car - see flickr for a clue to what it was (Hint it begins with P and is not a Prius)

Steaming into the hills

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Some steam train pics now up - all taken on the Puffing Billy railway just outside melbourne

Through the snow to Melbourne

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Yes there is snow downunder, although as its spring here the snow is melting fast, and all skiing has stopped.

Another 1/2 sized group - 14 this time, for a 3 day trip from Sydney (bridge, opera house) to Melbourne (trams) via Canberra and the Snowy Mountains - photos are in the usual place.

High wind classic sailing

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Just a quick look at what Sydney harbor was like yesterday - in the forground is a classic 18 foot skiff, with the city center in the background.

Nonwhale watching & breaking AC yachts

Had a couple of days of things not exactly working - yesterday I went whale watching & saw a grand total of 0 whales, infact apart from one jumping seal and a flying fish marine life seemed to be in hiding, and the offer of another trip for free wasn't a lot of use as I leave early monday morning.
This afternoon I decided to go for a gentle sail on an Americas Cup class yacht - in 38knot winds. Went out beyond the harbor bridge, got the jib up and were watching some classic 18 foot skiffs when the jibsheet went with a bang - one ripped jib, closely followed by a near collision with a local yachtie who thought he could ignore the port/starboard rule. A time was then spent sheltering behind a headland with other yachts waiting for the wind to drop, which it didnt, before retreating to base under power.

Can you guess where I am yet?

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Just say the title to this post in your best Rolf Harris accent.

I've made it to Sydney, and finally found time to get the backlog of photos uploaded, most with descriptions, to let you all know what I've been up to.
After leaving the Whitsundays we proceeded inland to spend 2 nights on a farm, where I got persuaded to get up on a horse and take part in mustering some cattle, and a slightly drunk night under the stars.
It was then back to the coast and off to Fraser Island, the worlds largest sand island. We then headed to Brisbane via Noosa, from where I flew down to Sydney.

Next stop will be Melbourne, so if any of the BMTers down there would like to meet up, leave a message.

Pictures now up

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I'm finally managing to get some of the backlog of pics onto Flickr - the picture above should rearly go with the post below, and shows the four of us in front of the Curtain fig tree on the first day. From left to right are Gerard, Myself, Holly and Claire.

Sailing the Whitsundays

A lots been happening since my last post - I've joined a small group heading south - Claire, Holly, Gerard me and our driver/guide/everything else John in the trusty minibus Trevor.

After starting off from Cairns via the skyrail we headed for mission beach, and me and Clair headed off for a spot of white water rafting on the mighty Tully river, Gerald and John went for a hike and Holly just chilled out with a certain young H Potter. We then headed further south to Airlgh Beach, stopping a while by the side of the road after spotting a cassowary. The rest of tyhe day was spent looking out for cane trains and Wicked Campers, both of which were successfully spotted.

Today was spent onboard the Maxi Ragamuffin, sailing off to Blue coral bay for a spot of snorkeling, before sailing for home.

A big bit of coral

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Well I coulden't come all this way and not see the Great Barrier reef, so heres a a picture of a few fish - hard to spot, not :)

I tried to get some pictures of the reef, but its hard using a camara with no viewfinder and a short battery life - those I got are in the usual place.

I went snorkalling, not scuba - I don't like getting too deep, so the pictures are all from just below the surface, and using natural light, so not as colourfull as the professional shots you see in all the books.

More pictures up

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I'm putting up a few more pics on flickr, covering the trip from Cooktown back to Port Douglass via the Undara lava tubes

More kitesurfing

I had another go at kitesurfing today - and actually managed to get up onto the bord, for all of 4m

Off roading to the waterfalls

Yes I managed to dodge all the crocs in the NT, so I'm now dodging crocs and cane toads in Queensland.

I decided to change my itenery, since I'm fed up with honeymoon hotels, and rented a small 4x4 and headed north from Cairns to Cooktown via Cape Tribulation - and there's very little tarmac from Cape Trib to Cooktown, just a dirt track through the rainforest, just my idea of fun. On the way back I took the inland route, and climbed down some lava tubes, before ending up here in Port Doglass.

Note to self - Trailfinders do very good hotels for couples and familys, next time go backpackers.

PS some photos now up on Flickr

Jumping Crocs

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Got out of Darwin for the day today to visit Litchfield National Park, for a look at termite mounds, waterfalls and a dip in some croc free pools, followed by a cruise on the Adelaide river (which gets no nearer than 3000km from the city of the same name) to see some big crocs get teased out of the water - at least they got fed for their efforts.

Remind me never to get too near the river in the NT

Desert to tropics

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Another two days of luxury train travel, from the desert heat of Alice Springs to the tropical heat of Darwin, stopping to take in the spectacle of Kimberly gorge from the air mid way.

PS if your reading this, please leave a comment, just so that I know I'm not being ignored.

Big red rocks

Sorry, still no photos - hotel net access remains expensive, so stuck to using net cafes.

Travelled up from Adelaide to Alice Springs on the Gahn train - more fantastic food while travelling through the middle of nowhere, all in complete luxury. I then headed outback to see a few rocks, admittadly big ones. Uluru (Ayres Rock) is probably one of the biggest letdowns in Aus, especially the sunset viewing which is just crammed with tourist buses, all having drinks parties. The Olgas was much better, as I had no expectations. For sunrise we avoided the crowds by getting close to Uluru, which was a much more plesent experiance.

It was a pleasently small group for the trip, 12 for the first 2 days after which one couple left us. However an ability to speak German would have been an advantage as apart fom an english family of 4, me and patricia from Austria the rest were all German. Still our driver/guide/cook Smiley did a fantastic job of getting the group to jell.

Highlight of the trip was palm valley, which we had to ourselves, a little part of the Jurasic in the middle of the desert. Even the flies (mostly) stayed away.

Late edit - photos of the trip now on Flickr, see link to right

Adelaide

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Sorry for the lack of updates recently, just not felt like typing.

I'm curently in Adelaide having taken the Indi Pacific train from Perth and have spent my time exploring the city, and for the last two days visiting Kangeroo Island, with its roos, koalas and seals.

Hello from Aus

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Sorry for the delay in updating this, but having finally got somewhere with a fast net connection I've been trying to catch up on the backlog of photos from Bali.

So after a month and a half of traveling I've finally reached Australia - to be precise Perth, the most remote city on earth, with noting to the west but ocean, and desert in every other direction.

It's winter here, which means that its about as cold as an English summer :) and all the ausies are staying at home, wrapped up in there only sweater, shivering.

Bali ptII – White water rafting

Got tired of the beach so headed inland for a bit of mountain water sports i.e. more white water rafting. This river was a bit different to Thailand, since it included a 4m drop down the face of a dam, all survived without casualties. Got some photos, plus a short video of the dam drop with the waterproof camera, but Bali has such a slow net connection there is no hope of getting them online for a while. Hopefully I will have more luck when I get to Australia.

Kitesurfing has been slightly defeated by a lack of wind and low tides, so still have not successfully got on the board yet.

Sinapore and Bali

Caught the train from KL to Singapore last thursday, six hours, but only £10, and that was for first class. Since Chrissy & Mark had invited me for dinner that night, it meant catching the early train, so no lie in that day.
Singapore was slightly cooler than KL, but just as rainy, but I managed to dodge most of the showers so didn't get too wet.
For those of you reading this who are not of Gosport descent, Chrissy is a family friend who has moved out to singapore with her husband Mark, and son Freddy.
Spent Friday and Saturday exploring Singapore, meeting up with Chrissy & Mark for lunch on Saturday, before flying out to Bali on Saturday evening, arriving here just after midnight. As expected there is a kitesurfing school right by the hotel, but Sunday they were having a big competition, so no lessons, so I spent the time taking photos and reading the Deathly Hallows (no I'm not going to give away the ending).
Today was the start of the Kitesurfing lesson, more body dragging before attempting to get up on the board, so far fairly unsuccessfully. An american called Eric is at about the same level as me, so at least I wasn't alone in my failure. Decided to spend the afternoon showing Eric how to sail, so took out a Hobie, which would have gone better had the rudders staid down. And so far it hasn't rained in Bali (touch wood) which makes a nice change.

Kuala Lumpur

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Another day, another capital city. The journey from the Cameroon highlands didn't get off to the best of starts when I got to the bus station, only to be told that the original bus was kaput due to faulty brakes, and I had to wait for another bus. It then proceeded to pour down for the rest of the journey, including when I had to get off the bus in KL, and then the Taxi driver had trouble finding the hotel.
its rained just about every day since I got here, but today I managed to arrange it so that I was indoors (actually on the twin tower skybridge as seen above) when it rained, so I'm feeling dry for once.

Done the usual city stuff over the last 2 days, including a nice free water laser show tonight, I attempted to take some pictures, but was slightly hampered by the lack of a tripod, so tomorrow I will probably go off and see some nearby caves.

Cameron Highlands

Decided to take a side trip between Penang and KL and head up into the welcome cool of the Cameron Highlands. Met three other travelers on the Minibus up here, and managed to find a reasonable & cheap guest house despite it being a weekend and the Malaysian school holidays.

Got to go now - a choclate cake is calling - I'll update later

Later update - apologies for the delay, the cake hasn't taken me that long to eat.

As you may have seen the I did a little tour, starting with a trip up to the misty peaks & damp mossy forest, then taking in a tea plantation and factory, a butterfly farm and a jungle waterfall, complete with native guide (he dresses up like that for the tourists) and blowpipe. managed to team up with a dutch guy for most of the time so had someone to talk to over meals.

Penang

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Another day, another island paradise, its a tough life being a footloose traveller. :)

Decided to get some cool air and take the Penang Tram up to the top of the island, but the tram broke down about a quarter of the way up, leading to a slightly precarious walk back down alongside the track - I suppose it could have been worse, we could have been at the top with no way down.

Off to the Cameron Highlands tomorrow, a 3 1/2 hour van journey away. Strangely it costs the same to get from my hotel to Georgetown, the main town on the island, as from Georgetown to the highlands, go figure.

PS Laptop semi repaired - one of the memory banks was faulty, and had to be removed. I will have to wait till I get to Singapore before I can replace it tough

Sun, sand and kitesurfing

Yes I am still alive, unfortunatly my Mac isn't looking so well, so I havent been able to get on the net for a while, and there won't be any pictures either till its sorted out. No apple service dealer on this island either:( so it will have to wait till I get to Penang.

Still I've been stuck on a tropical island, so even with no net access, I've still been busy, mainly in learning to kitesurf, which has mainly be hampered b the fact that the wind has been fairly light, untill I give up and go and do something else, which is enevitably just before the wind picks up, so I still haven't got up on the board - still only 2 more beach resorts to go till I hit Aus, so there is still a chance.

Hill tribes, elaphants and bamboo rafts

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Its been raining heavily here in northern Thailand almost constantly since last night, so obviously today was a good day to take a hike into the mountains & ride an elephant – not.

It was dry for the initial hike up to the Mieu village, and only rained whilst we were there, so some pictures will hopefully be on Flickr soon. However as we reached the elephants, the heavens opened, so it was a slightly damp ride through the jungle, with the elephant’s knee deep in mud, and that’s deep mud. After a quick lunch it was time to visit the Karen village, where the rain held off, before heading to see a waterfall once the rain resumed. I’m not sure which got me wetter, the rain or the spray from the falls, sadly no pictures since I didn’t want to get the SLR wet, and I’d left the waterproof camera behind.
Just in case I wasn’t wet enough, there was also the small matter of a ride down river on a bamboo raft – a contraption that barely floated.

Overall I’ve had a bit of a damp day – at least tomorrow I fly off to the beach, here’s hoping that its dry.

White water rafting

Today’s adventure – a bit of gentle white water rafting, something I’ve only done once before, in Canada about 10 years ago.

Put the small camera in its waterproof casing for the trip, so some shots on flickr, but unfortunately the lens misted up a bit. Still you can get the idea.

Set off from the hotel about 9am, thinking that I was going to be the only one, only to turn round two pick up two more people, Alex and Gemma, who’d had a bit of a session the night before. We then had a bumpy ride up the mountains to the start where we were all equipped with helmets, lifejackets and paddles, before setting off down river, one boat with the three of us plus two guides, an another with three more guides, who spent a lot of time larking about – the river must seem quite tame to them at the moment. It didn’t seem that tame to us, but we survived without anyone falling overboard except when the guides deliberately jumped off, and only getting totally soaked.

PS photos now all on flickr - and a better pic put at the top of this post

Bangkok, River Kwai and Chiang Mai

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Sorry for the delay in updating this, but I’ve been getting up to a lot recently, not to mention not having cheap net connections.

Saturday was a day trip out of Bangkok to the Bridge over the River Kwai, as made famous in the film of the same name. Ok you can whistle the tune if you want. A 2 hour coach trip ended at the very informative Death Railway museum and allied war cemetery (sorry no pictures of either) followed by a visit to the bridge itself. The two centre spans (rectangular) are post war, but the rest is original. There was then an hour long train journey, sadly not over the bridge itself though, followed by lunch and a boat ride before heading back to Bangkok.

Yesterday was spent on the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai – a mere 12 hour journey, so apart from checking into the hotel and a quick meal, that was it.

Having looked at the options, I decided to get dirty this afternoon by taking an off-road buggy trip into the mountains, which I ended up as a group of one, luckily it wasn’t any more expensive doing it that way. Although the trip was advertised as having a chance to have a swim at a waterfall, one look at the water was enough to dissuade me.

Tomorrow is just as adventurous, but less muddy, white water rafting.

Bangkok

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Arrived safely in Bangkok well after midnight Tuesday, having taken two trains, two planes and a taxi from Hiroshima. Wendsday started with heavy rain, which soon cleared leaving brilliant sunshine.

I think I've decided that I don't like capital cities - they are too big, noisy and crowded. Bangkok has the added problem that if your heve on your own, everyone assumes your only after one thing, and it isn't sightseeing.

Hiroshima

Another day in Japan, another temple, yet moor deer, an abscence of monkeys and a peace park.

Took the tram into town, wandered around the peace park & associated museam for the morning, before getting on a boat fro the short sea crossing to Miyajima and its famouse floating gate, which unfortnatly I got to a bout an hour after high tide, so it was floating on a mudbank, so I took the cablecar up the mountain to see the vies, which were hazy, and the monkeys, which had dissapeared into the forest to eat.

Tomorrow is my last day in Japan, and my flight out is from Osaka, so I will have to leave Hiroshima at lunchtime, and as I want to have an attemp at re-organising my suitecase I probably won't have a chance to go back. As usual I seem to have too little time in places I like, and too long in places I don't like, but thats life for you.

Kyoto to Hiroshima via Osaka and Himeji

Sorry no photos today - I can seem to do anything on the net but upload my photos using the hotel connection.
More trains today, I caught the Shinkansen (Bullet train) from Kyoto to Osaka, did a bit of shopping (a pair of N Shinkansen) before hitting the train again for Himeji and its famous white castle for a good look round, folowed by some mellowing out in the adjacent Jappenese garden. Another hour on the train saw me in Hiroshima.
Sorry Clair, still no blondes.


Photo added

Koyoto and Nara

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I thought todays picture should be differnt - so here's a bambi moment for you. This deer is one of a thousand that inhabit Nara park, about a days drive away from Kyoto, and they are not affraid of people at all, infact the antics of some Jappenese schoolgirls proved that it may be the other way around.
My last night in Kyoto, off to Hiroshima via Osaka and Himeji castle tomorrow, so yet more train travel.

Kyoto Day 2

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It's stopped raining at last, but is still overcast, so I managed to get templed out witout gettin too wet. The photo above is of the Golden Pavilion in the Kinkakuji temple, which had to be rebuilt after a monk set it on fire in the 50's. There does seem to be a fair few replicas amongst the temple, althogh to be fair some of the replicas date back to the 13th century.
Quick tip for visitors - wear slip on shoes, and make sure your socks have no holes, since a few of the temples require you to take off youe shoes before entering.

Kyoto

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Helo from a rainy Kyoto.
I caught the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto this lunchtime - a big improvement in terms of speed, smothness & comfort over the Russian trains. It was drizalling as I left Tokyo, and tipping down in Kyoto, so I haven't done much siteseeing yet, just a quick wander around the block to get my bearings.
This hotel has high speed net access in all rooms - so its back to being able to upload photos, I may be able to clear some of the backlog, since I think the Geishas will probably be staying inside on a night like this.

Mt Fuji

Today was the day trip out of Tokyo to see Mt Fuji, otherwise known as a day out in the clouds. Another early start was followed by a coach journey up to Mt Fuji, which was shrouded by clouds on the side we were on, so much so that a trip on the roller coasters next to the lunch stop would probably have been more fun. After lunch we headed for next volcano over and the Hakone national park, complete with a lake within the boundaries of the collapsed cone of the original volcano,　and a ropeway (trans Cable Car) up to the top of the newer volcano. Surreal moment of the day was the Japanese idea of pedalos - big pink swans including a full neck at the front, and the fake galleons doing business as tour boats.

A quick trip up to the top followed, which was a bit spoilt by the clouds rushing up to cover the view of Fuji, before heading back down to catch the bullet train back to tokyo. I think our guide was a closet trainspotter, since he was disappointed that we didn't hang around the platform to see some bullet trains pass. Still he did do a passable job as an origami instructor.

I brought my train ticket to Kyoto today as well, so I`m all set for the next leg, and hoping that I can find some wi-fi tomorrow, plus a way to charge my mobile, since japan works on 110v, and my charger wants 240v.

Tokyo

I arrived in Tokyo yesterday, only to find that the most developed country in the world is the first one not to have widespread wifi, so its back to net cafes, at least this one is in the hotel and free as long as you buy a drink.

I had a quick tour around the city this morning, which I ended by catching a riverboat back, since I didn`t fancy the pearl factory tour, not being much into buying expensive jewelry. Tomorrows tour should be an all day trip to Mt Fuji.

Hong Kong

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Hello from a wet Hong Kong - I arrived wendsday to overcast skies, and apart from thursday I's done nothing but thunderstorms and rain since.

I've brought myself a Macbook, so I'm finally able to get more of my Photos online, I'ts taking a time to upload them all though, so watch my Flickr site for updates. The above picture was taken on my first night in HK, hence the lack of rain.

Overall HK is a strange mix of the familure, UK style roadsigns and driving on the left, with the exotic, but it is by far the easiest city so far to get arround in, since all signs are in english as well as Cantonese, and the translations have been done by someone who speaks english properly, a welcome change after the chinglish of Beijing.

As for Beijing, I did the usual round of the Forbidden citty (large and red), the Summer Palace (big park) and the great wall (two places, coast & mountains) while HK I did a tour of the major sites, but mostly just been wondering around and doing a bit of shoping - girls would love it here. Since it was very we today I went to visit the Museam of Coastal Defence, which would have been better in the dry, since it is based in an old fort, and a lot of exibits are outside.

Next stop Japan, tomorrow.

Beijing

Sorry for the delay in posting anything, but I've had a busy few days in Beijing, not to mention the day and a half getting here by train.

The train to Beijing was a little bit nicer than the one to Ulaanbaatar, but not nearly as nice as the train to Irtusk, and this time I wasn't the only brit - a large group of twenty somethings doing the Vodka Train trip had caught up with me, so hi to James, Hazel and the rest if you ever get to read this. On arrival at the Chinese border we not only had the usual passport & customs formalities to go through, but we also got hoisted into the air whilst the bogie's were changed beneath the carriages - photos to come soon. The next morning the train wound its way through some mountainous terrain, before arriving in Beijing in the afternoon.

After checking into my hotel, it was time to head over to Ricks place for a meal, some badminton and a swim, before retiring to the nearby pizza restaurant for a late snack, as our opponents, Peter, his girlfriend whose name I've forgotton and Fran hadn't eaten.

Ulanbbatour, Mongolia

I reached country number two the day before yesterday - it took most of the day to cross from Russia to Mongolia, especially as there was a powercut on the Mongolian side of the border, thus delaying the processing of our passports.

I arrived in Ulambaatour, the capital, yesterday morning, then headed out to the countryside for some traditional Mongolian food and a bit of hiking, not to mention rock scrambling, although I did pass up the opportunity of a horse ride. Last night was spent in a traditional Ger, on a very hard bed, before returning to UB this morning for some further sightseeing. I will probably get an early night tonight since my train to Beijing leaves at 8:10, which means being at the station at 7:10.

Overall I'm having fun, and Mongolia is a lot nicer than Russia.

Mark

Irtusk Pt2

Its my last full day in Russia - I catch the train to Mongolia tonight, which means the 10 hour border crossing tomorrow.

Off to see the sites of Lake Baikal this afternoon first though, having finally found a tour guide. My advice for anyone coming to Russia who doesn't speak Russian or read Cyrillic is to book everything before you leave, I'm wishing I had, it would have made it so much easier, and it would probably be cheaper as well.

Irtusk

I survived the 4 day train trip from Moscow, so I am now in Siberia, which contrary to rumors is warm and sunny. In fact the only rain I've seen so far on this trip was over the last couple of days, when I was on the train.

The train itself was very international - a big group of Germans, two Frenchmen Jean-paul and Olevier, a couple of Belgians Pascal ans Alexia, and a handful of Russians. Late night vodka sessions were conducted in a mixture of English, French and Russian.

Jean-Paul decided to have a change from the train on the second day and chased us in a taxi, which being a Lada broke down just before he reached the train. At subsequent stops we made sure that he didn't stray too far :)

Other than that it was a straightforward, if not smooth due to the Russian coaches, journey.

Moscow

Yes I have made it to Moscow - I just haven't had a chance until now to post anything. And I still haven't found an easy way to get my photos online.

I must say that Moscow isn't one of my favorite cities - almost nothing here is too little trouble, my Hotel is an anonymous tower block in the outskirts (at least the metro is cheap) and its big & crowded - basically the same as just about every other capital city in fact.

This will also be my last chance to post anything for a while, as I've got the next 4 days on the train to Irkutsk.

Mark

St Petersburg Part 2

I thought that the last post was a little brief, and having some time to waste before my train, I decided to get back on the net and post some more, rather than go into some smokey bar.

First impressions of Russia was "Ivan is crazy" especially when he gets behind the wheel. Seeing how quickly you can accelerate between jams, changing lanes as often as possible, and cutting red lights as closely as you can seem normal here. Still the weather is nice, hot & sunny, although it soon cools down when the sun sets, which is late, 9:45 here and its still light outside.

Feeling very footsore, as apart from a couple of boat trips I've walked everywhere. This is definitely a city where knowing Russian would be an advantage, as English speakers are few and far between. The English commentary boat trip I took yesterday had me and two American architectural students, I think we were outnumbered by the boats crew :).

A tip if you like museums but are a cheapskate, come on the 18th of may, since its "International Museam Day" today and entry to all museums, including the Hermitage, is free. So yes I did go round the Hermitage, and also the Russian Naval museum. The park next to the naval museum is interesting, since it seems that every St. Petersburg Wedding has its photos taken there - brides were literally queing up for the best spots.

St Petersburg

IMG_5011[1], originally uploaded by mark benger.

Arrived safely in St Petersburg on Wendsday - Net cafes are a bit thin on the ground (or well hidden) hence the delay in posting. Got lots of pics - but have only managed to get the first 6 ont Flickr so far - more experimentation required.

I catch my first russian train tonight - the midnight train from Moscow.

RGBI-Conference2007

RGBI-Conference2007-F183, originally uploaded by mark benger.

Final task before the traveling comences is now complete - all my photos from the RGBI conference 2007 have now been uploaded.

The photo here shows Stuarts proof that a uniform does actually make it easier to pull :)

Yes - this is still active

Just a quick post to confirm that this blog is still active - I've just been busy selling the car, clearing out the flat, packing, going to Rotaract conferences and trying to get my WoW toon to 70.

Mark

When & Where

I'm putting together a schedule on Yahoo, so you have some idea when I'll be where - not finished yet, but heres a taster:

http://travel.yahoo.com/trip-view-1069660-marks_round_the_world

The Plan

For those that don't know me, welcome, please leave a comment, so that I know that at least someone reads this.
For those that know me - ditto.

Since this the first real post here, I thought I'd lay out a brief layout as to what I plan on doing for the next year:
Friday I leave work
A couple of weeks later I board a plane from Heathrow to St.Petersburg, then basically take a series of trains to Beijing.
From Beijing I fly to Hong Kong then hop over to Japan for a couple of weeks, before heading for Thailand. After a few days in the bustle of Bangkok I head north for the mountains, then south to the beaches. I then wend my way slowly south through Malasia, Singapore and Bali before hitting Australia.

Australia involves a couple of long train journeys - the India Pacific from Perth to Adelaide, then the Gahn to Darwin, stopping off in Alice Springs on the way. From Darwin I fly to Cairns, then down the coast to Sydney, then across to New Zealand in time for Christmas. Then its the homeward leg, via Hawii to San Fransisco, then train to the east cost (possibly stopping in Colarado for a bit of skiing) then home via Rio.

IMG_3982-good

IMG_3982-good, originally uploaded by mark benger.

Test of Flickr blog this functionality.