Back in Action

Sorry for the hiatus in transmissions from my adventures, but I’ve just been too caught with being sociable and seeing stuff. It’s meant a lot of travelling with a great bunch of different people, which makes updating the blog second place to getting to know new friends.

Since my last post here’s a quick summation of places I’ve been to, more details later:

• Mexico City - loved it, culture, good food, learnt a tiny bit of Spanish, failed to learn to dance - though  I had many teachers and a great time. I also got a bit obsessed with the skeletons!

• Cuba - could have been better, saw some parts of Havana that tourists don’t normally get to see and I left early before I was on the streets with no money.

• Costa Rica - a place with something for everyone; volcanoes, hot springs, monkeys, national parks, party towns, sleepy, deserted beaches and great people. 

 

• Los Angeles - just a quick stopover and a lovely boutique hotel, thanks Dad & Jen for the birthday present and to Michelle for letting me share her birthday and home.
• New Zealand - loved it, everything about it, adventure sports, the people, the friends I made, the landscape, food, everything.

• Sydney - climbed the bridge, shopped and partied a bit, but come on: so expensive!

• Singapore - clean, slightly boring, but tasty Singapore Slings!

• Malaysia - from big cities to quiet tea plantations, empty beaches to old colonial towns, somewhere I’d like to explore more, especially the east coast.

• Thailand - this is where things start to get messy, buckets anyone! I learned to scuba dive to the advanced level, partied all night on the full moon, avoided the riots and chaos in Bangkok and more buckets…

• Cambodia - never do a border crossing hungover, especially the Thai/Cambodian one, the heat, queues, not to mention the heat, kills you! But Angkor temples and Phnom Penh were worth it and fab company.

• Vietnam - loved the south, Saigon and all the chaos (crossing the street is a feat in itself), Nha Trang with the amazing seafood barbecues on the beach, Hoi An - tailor made anything, then the north, less friendly locals, but fellow backpackers, decent hostels and a boat trip forever seared into my brain made up for it.

• Laos - a quick trip in Laos, mainly for tubing in Vang Vieng and the boat trip up the Mekong. I think we may be the only foreigners who clubbed it in Vientiane! Had a fab time with a lovely group of people in Vang Vieng, chilled out in Luang Prabang and spent 2 days going up the Mekong river.

• Thailand - again, traveller’s fatigue began to set in, so a chilled time in Chiang Mai and melted in Bangkok, though still not affected by the riots, which whatever the BBC was reporting was not at a standstill because of the protests…

• And now I’m in India - finally getting over the traveller’s fatigue and looking forward to chilling out in south India. In the north I’ve been to Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Agra, Varanasi and Kolkata. Now I’m in Pondicherry and finally getting my traveller’s mojo back and a happy bunny again. 

More details to follow, but at the moment it’s a few random postings as I go along.