Mike and Mike's Big Adventure

Footprint? What carbon footprint?

2009-12-27T16:12:00.002Z

Well, we appear to be back home now, so I don't expect anyone will be reading this apart from Mike or I. But just for the record, in the last 3 months we seem to have created a tiny carbon footprint consisting of approximately 42494km in the air, approx 6000km on the road in campervans and a further huge amount of km's from Singapore to Hong Kong - not sure how to start working that one out.
Oh dear...

Slideshow - Melbourne

2009-12-22T00:01:00.000Z

Slideshow- Akaroa & Christchurch

2009-12-21T23:57:00.000Z

Be warned...

2009-12-21T05:52:00.004Z

... this is what can happen to you when you forget to buy a tram ticket in Melbourne.

Kidding of course.. we were on a tour of the old Gaol.. famous for being the execution place of Ned Kelly. Nowadays, they just lock you in a cell for a few minutes and let you take photos like this. Criminal in it's own way I know.

Slideshow - Mount Cook Village Drive & Lake Tekapo

2009-12-14T06:28:00.001Z

Slideshow - Moeraki & Oamaru

2009-12-14T06:26:00.001Z

Slideshow - Catlins Coast & Otago Peninsula

2009-12-14T06:22:00.001Z

Christmas hits the Camper or...

2009-12-13T07:14:00.003Z

... camp hits Christmas?
Well, we know we wont win any awards with this, but we tried to bring a little festive cheer to the camper the other evening.
If anyone wants to follow our lead, first start with some cord that you find lying on the ground, throw in some fur cones and some pine twigs, hang across the rear window and hey presto, you have a festive camper, well, 3 actually.
Strangely, my hayfever seemed to return at the same time as the decorations, so 12th night came a little early.

P..p..p..pick up a penguin...

2009-12-13T06:07:00.003Z

I managed to fulfil a long term desire the other day, to see penguins in their natural habitat. Whilst at Oamaru, I managed to delay bar opening time a little to take a drive to nearby Bushy Beach. A scenic spot in it's own right, but it's also a beach that the rare yellow eyed penguins use as their home. There's no guarantee that they'll appear and at the most, people had been spotting between 2-4 over a typical 2 hour period, so hopes weren't that high, but after about 10 minutes of waiting, 1 appeared from the bushes and slowly waddled to the water.. at the same time another was returning with his catch further down the beach. Then another from the same nest, initally very hesitant to waddle anywhere, eventually making it to the sea, was knocked over by a wave, then waddled back home! You might have to zoom in on this pic, but here's one of the stars of the show.

It's magic..

2009-12-13T06:01:00.002Z

On our way up the coast from Dunedin, we stopped off at the rather peculier Moeraki boulders.

The boulders lie partially submerged in the sandy beach, but were originally part of the mudstone cliffs behind, created around a central core of carbonate of lime crystals that attracted minerals from their surroundings, a process that started 60 million years ago. Ok, I copied that right out of the guide book... between you and me, they are cool spherical rocks scattered over the beach. Apparently they also have magical powers.. which must be true, cos as you can see, I was able to levitate next to one of them.

And the winner of the most perfect campsite view is...

2009-12-08T05:56:00.002Z

... this was a stopover on our way through the Catlins, on the Southern Scenic Route. It was at the end of a 6km gravel road, but that meant that only us and about 5 other campers were there.

Apart from that is these fellows... we were walking along the beach before the 'bar' opened and walked towards what I thought was a nice bit of drift wood... how wrong could I be... and how cute they were.

Question...

2009-12-08T05:50:00.001Z

What's 18958 kilometres away from most of you reading this now?

Answer - me, taking this photo on the 7th Dec at Bluff, NZ's most southerly town. Cool.

More like a controlled crash...

2009-12-08T05:43:00.004Z

...that's how Andrew, Mike's next pilot described his potential landing in the grass field.. surprisingly Mike still hopped into the front seat as you can see. To set the scene, we'd just arrived at Wayne and Pams house in Queenstown, (who we travelled with in India) when straight away came the offer of a Queenstown adrenaline experience not available in the guide books.

Their slightly eccentric friend, Andrew, needed to collect his handbuilt plane from Queenstown airport after it had been in the workshop for 5 years and there was a spare seat.

First stop though was the landing field to round up the sheep in the subaru, so the 'runway' could be seen. Then off to Queenstown Internation Airport.. take off preparations didn't take long... emergency exits were, well, pretty pointless without a parachute and there would be no trolley service. Wayne and I dashed back to the field to make sure it was still sheep free (it wasn't, so another quick spin around in the car) and moments later were witness to a pretty perfect looking landing and a just slightly shaken looking Mike. Only in NZ...

A special thanks to Wayne and Pam for their fantastic hospitality whilst we were in Queenstown.. we really appreciated it and hope we can do the same when you're in the UK next...

Not so tall afterall...

2009-12-08T05:37:00.007Z

In the past Mike and I have sometimes been differentiated by our height.. Mike S being referred to as tall Mike, myself as short Mike. I normally just accept this, but at last we have photographic evidence that proves that I am in fact considerably taller. Apologies will be accepted. Thankyou.

The Milford Experience...

2009-12-08T05:33:00.001Z

After a lot, and I mean A LOT of consideration, we decided to put our trust in a kiwi called Andy to get us to Milford Sound and back. This was our transport.. and Mike looking quite relaxed before take off. The flight was pretty smooth, just the odd air pocket, which felt like a drop of 50ft.. though it was probably more like 5. When all said and done, even though there is a lot of hype about Milford, it IS stunning.. and the flight was amazing... so much so that we have dedicated a whole picture album to the trip.. which you've probably already been bored with. Little did Mike know at the time, but this wouldn't be his only small plane experience of NZ... read on!

Queenstown Shotover River Jet

2009-12-06T06:29:00.002Z

Queenstown Grand Prix

2009-12-06T06:24:00.003Z

Slideshow - Milford Sound Flight & Cruise

2009-12-06T06:19:00.002Z

Slideshow - West Coast & Franz Josef / Fox Glaciers

2009-12-06T06:16:00.001Z

Slideshow - Arthur's Pass

2009-12-06T06:13:00.001Z

Hold the front page!

2009-12-02T08:29:00.003Z

Alot of people have been commenting on how wonderful some of our pictures are (affadavits available upon request, send £500)! Well, I felt it was time to reveal an industry secret - the photos are enhanced beyond recognition, yes, it's true - look at the fashion magazines! It's not just us who are responsible for making things look better than they really are.

For example, I took this picture of Lake Matheson, a lake that was formed by an iceberg when the Fox glacier retreated 14,000 years ago - the image of Mount Cook and Tasman should be mirrored on the water's surface. So the weather (as usual) was a bit unpredictable and well, I didn't travel over 12,000 miles to be rewarded with this image so after a bit of re-working - voila, the perfect picture- AMAZING?

He's not the only jumper...

2009-12-02T07:38:00.004Z

As Mike S has just pointed out to me, he's usually the subject in funny photos... partly down to the fact that I usually have the camera.. and partly down to the fact that, well, he just like it that way...

But last night we camped at a more remote site, managed by the Dept of Conservation. Nothing much there, just cold water and a loo, but we were on the edge of Lake Wanaka and the views were amazing... this was my attempt at a jump for joy ;-)

Amazing Arthur...

2009-12-02T07:19:00.004Z

A couple of days ago we drove over Arthur's Pass, from the East coast to the West coast. After a very dull and wet previous day, the sun came out, the clouds cleared and we were blessed with sights like this throughout the roadtrip... amazing stuff... watch out for an album coming soon.

We stopped en-route at the Kura Tawhiti Scenic Reserve, rolling grassland scattered with limestone outcrops, ranging from the size of a sheep to a small mountain. Another example of when rocks can actually be pretty impressive and as you can see, it was the perfect setting for a famous 'mid air jump' photo.

Slideshow - Kaikoura

2009-11-30T05:49:00.001Z

Slideshow - Marlborough

2009-11-30T05:47:00.001Z

Slideshow - Wellington

2009-11-30T05:45:00.001Z

Slideshow - Napier & Hawkes Bay

2009-11-30T05:43:00.001Z

Slideshow - Rotorua & Taupo

2009-11-30T05:35:00.003Z

Slideshow - Coromandel Peninsula

2009-11-30T05:32:00.001Z

The story of Ronnie & Reggie Cray(fish).

2009-11-28T08:16:00.003Z

Following on from our sea trip, we were sent on our way with two crayfish and filleted sea perch. We were told the best way to dispatch our feisty companions was to put them in a bucket of fresh water for 10 minutes (oxygen deficient). Now, I have to say, we both began to question what right we had to bring these beautiful creatures to the end of their lives. Is this how they anticipated their lives would end after living happily for 10 years in the South Pacific, who were we to serve them their fate, are we Gods? After this short contemplation, I had an apparition - boil for 7 minutes & serve with garlic butter accompanied by a fine Montana Sauvignon Blanc.

By the way, Kaikoura is Maori for Crayfish derived from the longer name "Te Ahi Kaikoura Tama ki te Raki" - lit: the fire that cooked the crayfish of Tamti te Raki.

A little bit P.O.S.H.

2009-11-28T08:13:00.001Z

We went seafishing today off the coast of Kaikoura - I was a bit sceptical of the whole concept as I was concerned that I would be bored just sitting at the edge of the boat, waiting for hours for a bite. Well, Mike N and I joined Gerard (Guide) and Nick (Skipper) for a 2 hour trip. We set off from Jimmy Armer's Beach and the water was relatively calm - all was good in the world.

After witnessing the collection of crayfish (a.k.a. rock lobster) out of the cages previously submerged 30 m below the ocean, I certainly was contented with our catch though it wasn't really fishing in my book.
Nick pushed the throttle down and we headed further out to sea into much rougher waters - I mouthed to Mike "Do you think it's time to ask for life jackets?". After some fundamental training e.g. how to stay in the boat & how to cast a line, success was quick to visit Mike, he caught 2 good sized sea perch, I had several bites, the words screaming from my mouth "Jeez, I've hooked a whale" seemed to amuse our hosts but eventualy I caught a sea perch (the other one got away) - it was a great experience and for once I didn't get sea sick - unfortunately Mike did so it wasn't just us who got fed that evening - lucky fish if they liked muesli!

Gale force crossing...

2009-11-28T08:08:00.002Z

Of course, I'm not sure if that headline was true, but it certainly felt like it. The ferry spent the majority of the crossing at a rather unusual angle... in other words, I could see clouds off to the right, but only sea to the left? I resisted temption to go talk to the captain, but made sure I knew where the lifeboats were.

We're not the only camper on the island...

2009-11-28T07:59:00.002Z

It appears that we are indeed a common breed around NZ.. everywhere you go, everywhere you park, everywhere you look... there's at least another handful of campervans. This proves the point.. us at the end of the queue for the ferry to south island. One whole deck was reserved for campers!

There she blows...

2009-11-28T07:51:00.005Z

This is Lady Knox... a very famous geyser in the central north island. She was discovered when some convicts were clearing the area in the early 1900's... and used to 'erupt' when she felt like it.

Nowadays though, she's such a money earner for the geothermal tourist industry, that at 10.15am every day, she does her thang, after the host of the 'show' does an introduction and pours a carefully weighed out amount of detergent into the underground source of super heated water. Certainly interesting to see, but it felt like Mickey Mouse was about to appear next for the photo op ;-)

Somewhere on a hill in Wellington...

2009-11-26T06:53:00.002Z

... this reminds me of a famous saying... but I can't quite put my finger on what it is... ???

Safety demonstration

2009-11-23T06:49:00.003Z

On our orientation walk in Taupo we came across a MacDonalds with a rather cool addition in the kids play area.. an old restored twin prop plane.

Mike couldn't help fulfilling a dream.. and there followed a quick safely demonstration.. I'm not sure he had the attention of many passengers, but at least I knew where my nearest exit was... although I'm still waiting for my peanuts and can of ginger beer.

Getting into hot water..

2009-11-23T06:43:00.003Z

... on the beach that is.. this is Mike standing in a pool of hot water at the appropriately named Hot Water Beach.
The process is simple. When the tide's out, you can hire a spade (we didn't, we just lurked and took someone elses hole when they'd finished with it) and dig yourself a hole on the beach, which fills with piping hot water from an underground source.

What the Rough Guide doesn't say is that this only happens in a small area of a very large beach, so what you end up with is a bunch of people digging holes all within a few feet of each other then not budging until the tide comes in. Much the same as any British beach I guess, but not windbreak in sight.

Found...

2009-11-23T06:37:00.001Z

...one metal strap and sharp clasp, left on the road between Hahei and Tauranga. If it's your's please contact us to arrange collection... only slight damage occured to it when we ran over it and punctured our tyre. Many thanks. M & M

Somehow I don't think we're in Oz anymore, Toto...

2009-11-23T05:47:00.001Z

...after our flight from Sydney, camper collection and 2 hour drive, it was out with the fleece, socks and PJ's... NZ is decidely chilly.

The Opera House & Falafal..

2009-11-23T05:40:00.003Z

Whilst we were in Sydney we thought as well as seeing the outside of the Opera House, we should experience the inside. So, when we were in China, the very forward thinking Mike S searched for what was on and booked a couple of tickets to see Alan Cummings, the famous Scottish comedian (the only one?). We sat there with our bottle of white, plastic glasses and had a right laugh.. did anyone else know he could also sing?

After that, we couldn't really stretch to dinner in a restaurant, so we opted for a Falafal wrap and chips in Chinatown.. classey.

Honestly, it's behind you...

2009-11-23T05:33:00.002Z

There we were, walking around Darling Harbour in Sydney when suddenly I noticed we weren't alone. I kept trying to tell Mike that there was something behind him, but by the time he believed me and turned around... it was too late.

Slideshow - Sydney

2009-11-22T19:35:00.001Z

Slideshow - The Red Centre

2009-11-22T19:34:00.002Z

Slideshow - Fremantle & Perth

2009-11-22T19:33:00.001Z

Slideshow - Hamelin Bay & Margaret River

2009-11-22T19:31:00.001Z

Slideshow - Albany & Walpole

2009-11-22T19:29:00.002Z

New Zealand next stop..

2009-11-15T04:51:00.003Z

So, we're off to NZ tomorrow... not sure what the internet situation is likely to be on campsites, so bear with us if this goes quiet for a bit... last night in a proper room with 4 walls for a few weeks ;-)

Dinky the Dingo

2009-11-15T04:41:00.005Z

On our way back to Alice, we stopped off at Jim’s Place, a small roadhouse that’s famous for being the home of Dinky, the piano playing and singing Dingo.
Dinky was found when he was a baby and bought up as a pet and used to sing when Jim’s daughters played the piano.
As time went on, he started playing the piano himself, and has become a bit of a celebrity. Apparently Martin Clunes paid a visit during a recent series on dogs and their masters. Anyway, he gave us an impromptu rendition of something and Jim told us of his exploits and fund raising activities. I’ve got his performance on video, so watch this space.

Jim’s life has been pretty amazing too, well before Dinky came along, so I'll try to repeat the story as accurately as I can here...

His father was one of the pioneers of tourism in the outback and pretty much single handedly opened up Kings Canyon, were we had just been, to the world. It was an amazing place, I’d say even better than Uluru. Anyway, his family started with a couple of tin sheds at the foot of the Canyon and over 30 years, built a multi $m resort there.
The land at the time was part of a huge cattle station, owned by an early white settler and very good friend of their’s, Mr Little. Jim’s family built everything on a small part of this land, on a handshake agreement with their friend.

Anyway, in the 90’s when the Aboriginal Land Reform’s came into practice, the daughter of Mr Little, Linda, whose mother was of Aboriginal descent, made a claim for the land on which the business had been built. The land claims were common at this time, and many Aboriginal communities lodged claims to land which had been taken over by white settlers, including the communities around Uluru, which is obviously now back in Aboriginal hands.

Jim’s family were happy to come to an agreement with Linda, the daughter, so the local communities shared in profits and were employed by the business, giving them long term stability and income. Unfortunately, Linda didn’t want to share anything, did I mention by this time she was a lawyer? She wanted the whole business for herself and after 6 years of legal battles, the judge upheld her claim and awarded her everything. Jim’s family were given 14 days to leave their house and their business and walk away with nothing.

So the Cotterills packed up and Jim sent the family away within 2 days. Here’s the good bit… well, in some ways. After his family had gone, Jim set to work with his JCB and levelled the whole place. The house, the hotel, the restaurant, even the airstrip. Everything. So the greedy lawyer ended up with nothing after all, and sadly neither did the local Aboriginal communities, who could have prospered under an agreement that Jim was willing to make. Those people are now some of the poorest Aboriginal communities in central Australia. And Linda? No-one seems to know where she is. Good story eh?

Anyone in the dunny?

2009-11-15T04:38:00.001Z

Our 2nd bush camp had what you can only describe as ‘facilities with character’. A tin shed, a loo and a view. They didn’t think it was necessary to add a door! Mike wasn’t singing when he was on this visit, hence the surprised look on his face when I appear with camera. (joking of course, it was staged.. he is still decent on there!)

Anyone know what a Swag is?

2009-11-15T04:33:00.002Z

Well, neither did we really until we arrived at our bush camp after our Uluru sunset champagne and nibbles. The camping element of the trip was very participative…. Camp fire to be lit, veggies chopped, washing up to be done etc... I was just about to ask for my room key when out came the Swag demonstration.

A swag is basically a canvas sleeping sack with a thin mattress inside that you roll out pretty much anywhere you like in the bush and that couple of metres of desert becomes your ‘room’. That’s it.
Sand all around you, sand in your swag, sand inside anything else you are wearing... but more importantly amazing stars all above you…and not a sound. Of course, as well as star gazing, I for one went to sleep praying that nothing was going to pay me a visit during the night ;-) This pic shows our truck and our 2nd nights campsite.

Into the Outback…

2009-11-15T04:30:00.001Z

So, after a bit of a long travel day getting to Alice Springs, we were up at 5am the next morning to head off into the Outback. Our mode of transport for the next 3 days was a rather cool 4WD truck/bus, shared with 12 other people and Steve, our driver/guide.
After about 6 hours and 450km, we caught our first glimpse of Uluru - Ayers Rock. Strange that a big rock in the middle of nowhere can be so captivating, but it really was. The history of Uluru and it’s Aboriginal owners is fascinating… if not a little hard to get your head around as we walked about 7km around some of it’s base in 39d heat… but it’s incredibly photogenic and I apologise now for the amount of pictures of a red rock with a blue sky background that some of you are going to have to sit through over the coming months.

Here’s just one example…

Dear Qantas...

2009-11-15T04:23:00.004Z

Dear Qantas,

I was a passenger on flight QA176 from Perth to Alice Springs on the 9th November and I wanted to write to congratulate you on your service.
Firstly, I would like to thank you for getting your engineers to fix the plane before take-off, as you kindly announced whilst we were delayed in the departure lounge.
I’d also like to thank you for being so thoughtful towards your crew and deciding to turn the plane around and fly back to Perth after your co-pilot felt ill. After all, we were only about 30 minutes away from landing, so flying almost 2 hours back to Perth again was commendable.
Lastly, I’d like to thank you for the extra bottle of water and small slice of cake that we were provided with during the subsequent 30 minutes on the tarmac and another 2½ hours we spent in the air heading to Alice Springs for the second time. In fact your service is so good, maybe that's why you wanted us to experience it all twice?

Kind Regards
Mr A Nnoyed

I know this photo has nothing to do with the above story, but realised you'd not seen our micro-camper... so here he is in all his glory, next to the beach at Hamlin Bay...

Bored yet? If not, day 3...

2009-11-15T04:18:00.001Z

A bit of a tour around today, taking in some local towns, including Augusta and then Margaret Rip-off…sorry, Margaret River. A totally tourist town, full of coffee shops and overpriced tat - it was a local who told us it’s become known as Rip-off and not River!
As with many towns, it didn’t hold our attention for long, so it was off to a scenic beachside lunch spot and then a vineyard for a quick tasting. 30 minutes later, Mike walked out of there with a rather fine Shiraz and no birthday money left. Oh and yes, a flagpole planted in his head.

Day 2 in a micro-van

2009-11-15T04:06:00.003Z

Another 400 or so kilometres on day 2 and we arrived at Hamlin Bay, a beautiful beachside campsite. En-route, we stopped at Walpole National Park and did a tree-top walk around a forest of 300-400 year old Tingle trees.
These trees can survive pretty much anything, even fire. Their roots are quite shallow, so they spread the base of their trunk out wide enough to give them more stability, which means they can have a split in the middle big enough to drive a car into. This is Mike on one of sky bridges.. It was a bit like being kicked off “I’m a celebrity get me outa here…” but unfortunately we didn’t get welcomed at the end by Ant and Dec ;-)

The sunset a few metres from our pitch was, as you can see, quite amazing.

Our first friend down under...

2009-11-15T03:15:00.001Z

After an 8 hour flight and then a 5 hour drive, we arrived in Albany, on the southern coast of Western Australia.
Lovely camp site next to the beach, odd kinda town, most of which had closed up for the day by the time we got there, but their one big tourist attraction was still open for visitors.
This is Dog Rock. It really does look like a giant dog, so Mike, who’s obviously bored with my company after losing our Intrepid travel companions, wasted no time in making a new friend.
Cute. The dog I mean.

Jackie, we love you...

2009-11-09T00:09:00.001Z

It’s no secret that the Chinese love Jackie Chan. He’s made hundreds of films and endorses just about everything you can buy. So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that on pretty much every bus trip we did in China, we were subjected to one of his movies. Imagine a Chinese version of The Benny Hill Show, but with more slapstick fighting and more unbelievable. Anyway, so when we saw the Avenue of the Stars at Hong Kong harbour, we couldn’t resist walking the walk until we found the man himself… and here’s Mike paying his respects, by putting his hands inside Benny’s… sorry, Jackie’s hand prints.

We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz

2009-11-03T11:39:00.006Z

We are sitting in the WildFire Bar & Restaurant in Hong Kong Airport waiting for our flight to Perth,Australia. We have treated ourselves to a glass of very fine NZ white wine. For me, this has been my third glass of wine for nearly 7 weeks - can you feel my pain?

My love for weak Chinese beer was very short lived when the nights ended and I was still coherent and oddly, really hydrated in the mornings.
P.S. I'm the one second from the right!

Slideshow - Hong Kong

2009-11-03T11:12:00.002Z

Slideshow - Huashan

2009-11-03T11:10:00.001Z

Slideshow - Liuzhou & Cheng Yang

2009-11-03T08:17:00.004Z

Slideshow - Yangshuo

2009-11-03T08:12:00.002Z

Slideshow - Pingan & Dazai

2009-11-03T08:05:00.003Z

Smallest room yet...

2009-11-03T08:01:00.003Z

The final night in China was spent on a lovely train, this time in little 6 berth cabins, 3 bunks high. As you can see, we had the top bunks and although there was plenty of space to stretch out, the slight lack of headroom was a little uncomfortable. Everything was fine, until the train started to move, which then resulted in the ceiling above us rattling pretty much until 10am the next morning and the air-con re-cycling air that seemed to originate from wherever the Chinese were breaking the No Smoking rule - which they do a lot. Still, it took us over 1000kms to the Hong Kong border, so that was good enough for me. All I had to hope for then was that they would let me out more easily than they let me in ;-)

YangShuo delicacies...

2009-11-03T07:51:00.004Z

After the peace and quiet of the countryside, Yangshuo was a bit of a relief. It did indeed have brick built hotels, shops, some beautiful scenery and some interesting food. Although this particular restaurant menu seemed to offer some new taste experiences, we opted for some veggie steamed dumplings. One of the food highlights the next day was a chilled thick cup of sweet corn juice…much tastier than you might think!

Front row seats for the Dong Minority show…

2009-11-03T07:46:00.004Z

When we were in Chengyang, we were taken kicking and screaming (well, some of us…ok, it was just me) to a minority group cultural show in the village square. This basically involved a small group of men and ladies, in traditional Dong dress, singing, dancing and then serving us a small cup of local rice wine - see pic. Thankfully it was quite short, finishing up with the most ancient tradition… dragging up the tourists to have a little dance with them - Mike was first up, I of course took the role of official group photographer! Finally, at the end of the show, there was a deluge of sweet old ladies selling hanging things for good luck… try as you might, you couldn’t shake them off, so a couple of souvenirs were purchased - which might be turning up in a Christmas stocking near you…

Rice terrace trekking

2009-11-03T07:37:00.004Z

After the peace and quiet of our first 2 nights in China, we headed for the city for a quick night stop before spending another day on the buses to get to ChengYang and then the LongJi rice terraces. The least said about the city the better ;-) It was hot, we were literally the only westerners wandering the streets and there was meat in almost everything on the breakfast buffet, including the French toast. (The Chinese don’t always understand vegetarianism, if you ask for Vegetarian, they first of all try to give you just a little bit of meat, then eventually understand that you’d prefer none!)

But the villages were a breath of fresh air. We stayed in a succession of traditional guesthouses, all built from wood, with nothing but a wall of tongue & groove between us and the people in the next room… and it wasn’t just the next room you could hear, you could hear a mouse burp in the room beyond that as well. You can only imagine the problems Mike had when trying to stifle those natural bodily noises.

We wandered through the villages, took countless photos of rice drying in the sun and tried to get the ultimate shot of an old Chinese lady for the portrait wall at home. One day was spent walking between villages, about 6 hours in all, up hill, down dale and stopping off at the house of a local minority family for lunch en-route. This pic shows the cooks in action.

After all that fresh air and peace and quiet, as much fun as it was, we were pretty glad to get to the next town, where we had been told the hotels were made from bricks and there was a McDonalds on the corner.

Welcome to China...

2009-11-03T07:32:00.002Z

So, after a long travel day starting at about 8am and involving a bus, a speedboat and another mini bus, we arrived at the Chinese border at about 4pm. Exiting Vietnam was simple. Filling out Chinese Immigration forms was ok. We passed the quarantine checks for Swine flu and thought it was plain sailing from there. How wrong could we be.

I got to the immigration desk first, stood where I was supposed to and looked sweet and innocent, as always. After a few minutes, the official started to hold up my passport to the light and look at each page very, very carefully. She checked the visa and stamps from previous trips. Odd I thought, but she’s just being thorough.

Then she called over a colleague and handed him my passport, along with a whisper of Chinese and a sideways glance in my direction. Hmmm… My passport proceeded to be checked against the light by a few other officers before one of them came over and asked me to step aside…the conversation when something like this:
Officer: “Where is the exit stamp from China?” (meaning when we left Tibet 2 years ago)
Me: “I don’t know.. It must be in there somewhere”
Officer: “Where is it?”
Me: “Sorry, I don’t know”
Officer, handing me my passport: “Show me where is the stamp”
Me, frantically looking: “I don’t know.”
Officer: “When did you leave China?”
Me: “Right before I entered back into Nepal”
Officer: “That’s not possible. It would have been stamped. Do you not remember getting it stamped?”
Me: “I don’t know, it was two years ago” …

Anyway, Mike and the leader were part of it by this stage too…since whatever was not in my passport was probably not in his either. So, we were directed to sit down whilst more discussions went on, both passports disappeared and we ’relaxed’ watching a Michael Jackson concert. More questions followed, during which we tried to show that since we had an entry stamp into Nepal 10 days after entering Tibet, then we must have left China. We also reminded them that we were travelling on a group visa and so maybe it was that paperwork that was stamped and not our passports.

Seems though that they suspected that we were travelling on fake passports… so none of that necessarily washed. At this point, although I’m not known for having irrational thoughts, I started wondering how many people I would be sharing my room at the Border Control Hotel with (aka, prison) and if it would have an en-suite.
But after an hour or so start to finish, the nice officer returns our passports and says that there could have been a mistake at the Nepalese border and that we could go through. Phew is an understatement. (The picture by the way is Mike pretending to be in a cell at the Hanoi Hilton…now a museum, but a prison during the Vietnam war.)

Moving onto mopeds...

2009-11-03T07:29:00.002Z

Next stop after Ha Long was Cat Ba island. The town itself didn’t have a huge amount to offer (other than cafes, flip-flop shops and the usual market) so we opted for a moped tour, taking in some caves that were used as a hospital in the Vietnam war, a mountain climb in the national park and then lunch at a fishing village. The moped and driver were supplied, so we only had to hang on and enjoy the ride - or go hands free and take photos of each other when overtaking…the latter was more fun! The climb proved quite challenging too…UK Health and Safety officials would have shut it down immediately! Some pictures will be in a Cat Ba Album.

Vietnamese diving lessons…

2009-11-03T07:26:00.003Z

After leaving Hanoi, we had a cruise around Ha Long Bay, off the coast of Vietnam, famous for having thousands of karst limestone ‘mini mountains’ that rise right out of the sea. We had our own ‘junk’ boat for the 6 of us and a crew of about 4...not bad going we thought. After mooring up for the night, I took a kayak for a spin whilst Mike opted for a leisurely swim and a bit of diving. Had I pressing the shutter in time, this picture would have shown him in mid air, performing a double twist backwards somersault before entering the water for a perfect 10...or it would have shown him jumping off, arms and legs waving uncontrollably and entering with a huge splash, resulting in a mini tidal wave almost capsizing my kayak - you decide.

Cycling in Hanoi...

2009-11-03T07:18:00.003Z

One of the first lessons you learn in Hanoi is that everybody and everything with either legs, wheels or a combination of both, has the right to use the road or pavement and in whatever direction they feel like. To cross the road, you definitely don’t stop... just look, listen and walk with confidence. You do become strangely confident in a scarily short period of time.
Anyway, as well as risking life and limb on foot, we also took a cyclo tour, which was great for the first hour…after 3 hours however we were feeling a bit lazy and had latched onto the fact that the cyclo drivers were in fact taking us around in circles to fill up the time. A lesson learnt.

The Great Firewall of China...

2009-11-03T07:14:00.004Z

So, we've discovered that not only does China have the Great Wall, but also the Great Firewall, a not so handy piece of software that enables the government to block websites such as Blogger and Facebook from view- China has repeatedly tried to block electronic access to material it deems illegal under its Great Firewall policy. It bans certain news about Tibet, democracy, anti-government or anti-Communist party activities and sexual content so, we're sorry we've been quiet over the last 10 days, but rest assured, we've been storing up some corkers to post up as soon as we hit the civilisation of Hong Kong.

normal service will be resumed...

2009-10-20T12:37:00.002+01:00

... in a few days time. We're heading into China tomorrow and not expecting things like Internet access, nice hotels or anything other than rice to eat 3 times a day... but will attempt to get back online with the latest happenings as soon as possible :-) In the meantime, thank you for your patience. M&M x

Slideshow - Hanoi

2009-10-18T18:00:00.000+01:00

Slideshow - Vang Vieng, Vientiane and Lak Sao

2009-10-18T17:56:00.002+01:00

How not to brag about your national monument...

2009-10-17T03:39:00.003+01:00

On our orientation walk of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, we ended up at Victory Gate. The concrete used to build it was donated by the USA for development of the capitals airport, but the government at the time decided to use it for something more interesting.. hence it's affectionately referred to as the 'vertical runway'. This is the sign that greets you when you get there... i hope whoever wrote this doesn't work in their tourism office.

This is the lump of concrete in all it's glory. Not as bad as the sign makes out!

More rooms with views...

2009-10-17T01:20:00.003+01:00

Just so you don't think we're having too much of a good time all the time, the picture to the left was the view that greeted us from our bedroom window after about 8 hours in a mini-bus on Thursday.
In case you're wondering, it wasn't misty outside and we weren't on the top floor high about the clouds... it was simply dirt, on the inside and the outside. The room stank and the bedding was a tad grubby, so out came my emergency pillowcase. To top it off, there was only 1 restaurant in town with decidely average food. Of course, the view got a little better after a glass or two of Beer Lao.

On the other hand, our hotel in Vientiane was a little newer. So new infact that the two floors above us were still under construction. The room itself was pretty comfortable, but the workmen did start practicing how to finish off the hotel from around 7.30am. In case it's not obvious, the view from our internal facing window was of the lift shaft- not quite finished as you can see, but at least there was no chance of falling down it with the 1ft high piece of metal across the front. Mid Beds Building Control would have a field day.

Are you calling me a shandy drinker?

2009-10-15T02:07:00.006+01:00

Our initial thoughts on Vang Vieng were not positive - a huge mass of backpackers, no landmarks or sights to see apart from Westerners walking down the street in just their swimwear - the problem with this is that in Asia, you should dress quite conservatively in public as a mark of respect, it's a double edged sword because this town is a party town created for tourists as a stop over or for the longer term - the locals make good money but turn a blind eye to what is usually deemed unacceptable behaviours.

However, Mike and I did let our hair down and went for a Gin and Tonic.

We also went tubing, the best way to describe this is that you sit in a rubber inner tube and float down the river. Traditionally, you are meant to do this in the afternoon whilst drinking buckets of alcohol, floating from one bar to another - the bar owners literally throw you a lifeline and drag you into their bar! We decided to go tubing off-peak and we had a great time - we even stopped for a shandy at 10 o'clock in the morning - don't tell me we don't know how to party!

This is a picture of Mike after his glass of shandy....

Room with a view

2009-10-14T17:27:00.003+01:00

We left Luang PraBang on the bus at 7.30 am for a 6 hour, 230 km journey over mountains, across rivers and through villages to Vang Vieng. We stopped for lunch and this was the view from the restaurant wash basin - the views were stunning, I jumped for joy!

What a fool at the waterfall!

2009-10-14T16:51:00.005+01:00

After visiting the cascading waterfalls outside Luang PraBang, we made our return journey back to our bus via a long boat - unfortunately the boat had more holes than a Lipton's teabag and less fuel than in a monk's cigarette lighter so in the process of sinking, the engine cut out. After a brief period of anxiety, another boat arrived and we were on our way again -no worries!

Slideshow - Luang PraBang

2009-10-14T12:23:00.000+01:00

Slideshow - Pak Beng & Mekong Boat Trip

2009-10-14T12:20:00.003+01:00

Luang Prabang food market

2009-10-14T09:53:00.003+01:00

Before seeing the monks collecting their supplies, we went for a browse around the local food market. This also happens every morning, with locals coming from the surrounding villages to sell their produce - we managed to find everything on our list for dinner that evening... live frogs, fresh veg, crabs, moles, eels, bags of animal blood, a pigs head skin, wasp grubs and a bottle of snake and insect whisky to wash it down with. Mmmmm....

These were the pre-cooked mini crabs. More pics to follow in an album!

A monastery of monks

2009-10-13T16:10:00.004+01:00

Had a very early start to Sunday... alarm went off at 4.53am so we could go to see the monks of Luang Prabang walking the streets collecting their alms. In other words, this is when all the monks from all the towns monasteries collect food from the locals. It happens every morning - the locals line up, kneel down, and give spoonfuls of rice, biscuits, cakes or any number of things to each monk as they walk past. Really fascinating to watch.. it's all done in silence, apart from the traffic that still wizzes past. Mike had a basket full of wafers.. i stood by with the camera! This was one of the more interesting shots.. the back row of monks were still collecting, whilst the front row were on there way back to the monestery. I'm afraid there will be more pics in a future album!

Hotel room views.. well, almost...

2009-10-10T09:27:00.002+01:00

Well, it's not quite the view from our room, but it is the street that the hotel was on, just up the hill on the right. This was Pak Bang, the overnight stop on the Mekong boat trip.. and as you can see, it's a quiet, quaint sort of place, where even the town generator gets switched off at 10pm! Good job it was only a 1 night stay!

The secret millionaire...

2009-10-10T08:46:00.004+01:00

We crossed the border into Laos a couple of days ago and after filling in a few forms to get a Visa, we handed over a few hundred US$ and ended up both being millionaires! Mike was well pleased with his return, as you can see.
So we have nearly 3,000,000 Kip between us, but then it doesn't seem to be going that far, when a G&T is 20 grand ;-)

Cheeky Monkey

2009-10-10T02:33:00.005+01:00

Dear Editor
So there I was, taking a picture of my girlfriend when suddenly this ferocious looking animal jumped out of nowhere - I managed to scare him off by playing Sophie Ellis-Bextor's first album really loudly - this sort of thing doesn't happen back in Wales you know?
Yours sincerely
Rhys S Monkee

Slideshow - Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai & Chiang Khong

2009-10-09T12:08:00.001+01:00

Train food - part 1

2009-10-07T16:26:00.002+01:00

Now, I know it's not a flattering photo, but then neither was the one of me in the pink hooded gown in Kuala Lumpur, so I'm posting it anyway!

We survived the 2nd overnight Thai train, arriving in Chiang Mai a meer 15 hours after we left Bangkok.

We even ate on the train.. pretty good food too.. and had a very friendly waitress who bought us a bucket load of Singha beer incase we got thirsty - and we did.

Thankfully no crazies this time, but little sleep... for me anyway. Ahhh.. I hear you all cry.

What not to do with a camera lens...

2009-10-07T16:10:00.002+01:00

Our 2nd day in Bangkok took a bit of an unexpected turn... I found out the previous night that if you accidentally drop your camera on the hotel room floor that it doesn't bounce.. and doesn't work afterwards :-(
So it was off to Bangkok's electronics shopping mall for a spot of lens shopping. Mike of course wanted to have a go at fixing the lens first... this is what it looked like during the process. It's now still in pieces in my bag and I'm 10,900 Thai Baht worse off than I was...but I do have a spanking new lens to play with - which means more pictures for you lucky readers - everyone's a winner.

Tour de Chiang Mai

2009-10-07T16:03:00.002+01:00

So, we got to Chiang Mai and wasted no time in getting on some bikes for a 30 odd km tour around the town. As you can see, we blended in perfectly with the locals... no-one suspected we were tourists.
More photos to come in a Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Chiang Khong album.

Slideshow - Bangkok

2009-10-05T08:47:00.000+01:00

Slideshow - Koh Samui

2009-10-05T08:37:00.000+01:00

1 night in Bangkok.. well, 2 actually...

2009-10-04T11:15:00.002+01:00

Had a little tour of Bangkok yesterday, including a trip on a long boat, a few temples and a market with 15000 stalls.
As soon as we arrived at Wat Po, the home of the famous reclining Buddha, Mike had his arms around another local. They'll no doubt be some Buddha photos in an album, coming your way soon.

All aboard the Bangkok "Express"...

2009-10-04T11:00:00.002+01:00

After the comparative comfort of our Koh Samui hotel, we arrived back down to earth with a bit of a bump on Friday night. We took a minibus, a ferry and then another bus to get to Surit Thani train station for the 8.40pm train to Bangkok.

Ok, it could have been worse. Some people do the train journey on hard seats, we at least had soft beds, sheets and a pillow. Each carriage has two rows of bunks, one low, one high, with a corridor in the middle. You need to sleep with all your bags to make sure you've still got them in the morning and there's a light proof (not) and sound proof (not) curtain to help you feel more comfortable. I was also lucky enough to be opposite a local crazy man, who started the trip by offering me a sip of his Chang beer (i politely refused!) and continued to work his way through half the contents of the brewery over the following 12 hours. He did break up his drinking with the occasional walk up and down the carriage, talking to his imaginary drinking buddy. As you can tell from the photo, I was totally chilled out ;-)

Koh Samui tour

2009-10-04T10:42:00.002+01:00

So, our first day on Koh Samui was supposed to be on a speedboat, travelling to some islands in the national park to snorkel, kayak and chill out... but the weather put a stop to that - big waves predicted, so we opted for an impromptu island tour. We all did a deal with a local taxi (which from memory, are called SongChang's, but I could be completely wrong there!) and spent a few hours sitting in what is effectively the back of a pick-up truck.
To the left, was the first Buddha of the day.

En-route, we were also reminded by this very handy restaurant sign that you should at all times know when the next likely loo stop will be.

Also interesting to see that some enterprising local must have a deal with a mate in the UK to scan in a paper, email over so he can print it, staple it and sell it in Thailand!

Slideshow - Penang

2009-10-04T05:42:00.002+01:00

Slideshow - Kuala Lumpur

2009-10-04T05:41:00.002+01:00

Slideshow - Kuala Kangser

2009-10-04T05:38:00.002+01:00

Slideshow - Malaka

2009-10-04T05:37:00.001+01:00

Slideshow - Singapore

2009-10-04T05:29:00.002+01:00