Jason's Travel Blog

A Final Update

2008-08-10T15:01:00.002+01:00

And it will be a short one Im afraid, as I will be home on Wednesday and you can just talk to me then!

We've been in NY since Wednesday, having a great time. My ass has hardly touched a seat since we arrived. Nice to see my cousins and uncle again. Weather is great. NY is cleaner and just generally nicer than I remember. Went to a MLB game on Wednesday evening; going to a MLS game tonight. Saw The Lion King on Broadway on Friday night.

Keep well and I'll see you on Wednesday (hopefully with my bag - going through T5 at Heathrow!)

J

Some underwater photos

2008-07-27T13:07:00.003+01:00

Here are some photos from the Reef. This could be the last update for a while as we leave Al's Uncle's in the morning and internet cafes cost a fortune. Also, we're not sure if there is internet access where we are staying in Fiji. This could be the last one till New York!

Enjoy

Jas

P.S. It was going to be too much hassle to fix the other ones, so I didn't!

A proper update (At last!)

2008-07-24T02:44:00.005+01:00

Strap yourselves in; this could be a long one!

We left Sydney on the 9th of July in our first journey in the Camper van. Nice drive up to a place called Halliday's point. Did a little bit of shopping (foodstuff shopping) then played a bit of tennis at the campsite.

Left early the next morning for a day of mostly driving. Had lunch in Port Macquarie. Arrived in Coff's Harbor; Willy new someone from here so two of us slept in van and two in the house. Stayed there for three nights; got a game of golf on the Saturday morning in the local club competition. Lovely morning, lovely course, terrible golf.

Departed from Coff's on the 13th with our destination to be Surfers' Paradise. Stopped off in Byron Bay on the way up and walked out to the most Easterly point in Australia. Cooked a lovely sweet and sour upon arrival in Surfers'. Stayed a couple of nights; nice place but a bit "touristy". Willy and Connor had a surfing lesson; Al wasn't feeling too great so I stayed with him; we'd get our chance soon.

On the 15th we left Surfers' early and went to the Warner Bros. "Dream World" theme park. Had a great day running about like a kid going on all the "scary" rides. There were some excellent roller coasters and a thing that launched you straight up into the air; apparently we experienced more "G's" that in a Shuttle launch. Had a short trip up to Brisbane in the evening, made "interesting" by he torrential rain that fell.

Spent the 16th in Brisbane. Nice enough city, we just walked around most of the day. Went the the cinema in the evening and saw "The Dark Knight". Fantastic film. Heath Ledger unbelievably good as the Joker.

The 17th. My Birthday. Headed up the road to the Australia Zoo. Excellent morning's fun. Some really cool animals; we got to pet Kangaroos! The place, however, is quite strange. It seemed like the whole zoo was a shrine to Steve Irwin; pictures of him everywhere and little blurbs about his life. Quite surreal. Drove up to Noosa in the afternoon; lovely little place. Al and I booked a surfing lesson for the morning.

The 18th. Connor's Birthday. Had surfing lesson in the morning; great fun. By the end of the two hour lesson we were able to catch our own waves and get standing up on the board reasonably consistantly. Might have to try it again sometime! Drove in the afternoon to Hervey Bay. The intention here was to hire a 4x4 and take it out on Fraser Island. Unfortunately all the companies were booked out so we missed out on that.

On the 19th we drove up to Rockhampton - the beef capital of Australia. Didn't do a whole lot other than go out for a MASSIVE dinner. Very very tasty.

Drove up to Airlie Beach on the 20th, where we stayed three nights. Stopped in Mackay for lunch. Had a game of tennis in the evening. The plan was that we would take a boat trip around the Whitsundays on one of the days. Unfortunately the weather was terrible - another disapointment. We just spent the days exploring the area or sitting in the van (depending on the precipitation).

Very early start on the 23rd. I drove the van out of the campsite at 6.30am. The plan was to drive the 390 miles to Cairns by 2pm so Al could see the Australian men's hockey team play. Unfortunately we didn't make it to Cairns until 4pm. A prolonged pit stop in Townsville didn't really help. We booked a SCUBA and snorkling trip for Friday then drove up a steep, winding mountain road to a town called Atherton. Al's Uncle and Aunt lives here and will be our base until we fly to Melbourne on Tuesday.

I hopefully will get some good shots with the underwater camera on Friday - look forward to those!

J

P.S. Sorry about the spelling mistakes - the spell checker doesn't work on this thing; I'm a punctuation king but can't spell for peanuts.

Another Sorry

2008-07-19T10:38:00.001+01:00

I'm afaird I have to apologise again; there is hardly any internet about as we travel up the coast, and where there is it costs a fortune!

We are in Rockhampton this evening; the steak capital of Aus. Had a large one for dinner; very tasty.

Got to go now.

Hope all is well at home,

J

Some Photos...

2008-07-10T13:08:00.002+01:00

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No Internet...

2008-07-10T07:57:00.002+01:00

I have had no access to the old 'net these last few days; I appologise. We have left Sydney afer a great few days there and are now up the coast a bit in our camper van. We stopped for a night at a place called Forster and are now at Coffs Harbor. I'll hopefully get some photos up in a while.

Hope you are all well at home,

J

Sorry folks....

2008-07-06T11:37:00.003+01:00

No internet in the place I'm staying in Sydney - this is only a quick update to tell you that. Here are some photos Connor has up on his blog.

Oh aye, speaking of Connor; he got engaged to Lorraine on Wednesday evening in Adelaide. Many congratualtions to them.

Jas

Adelaide

2008-07-01T11:49:00.004+01:00

Hi folks. Not able to get loads of internet here so updates will be short and with no photos. Spent the last two days roaming around Adelaide city centre and also out in the country side around it. Quite chilly - their winter climate seems to be similar to our Autumn. I shall try to get some photos up when we get to Sydney on Thursday.

One interesting thing to mention is that while we were at the coast Alan and Connor got totally soaked by a wave coming up over a break-water. Much hilarity was derived and Alan wrung several litres of water out of his fleece.

J

A quick update from Adelaide

2008-06-29T11:12:00.003+01:00

Arrived in Aus at 6am local time after very litte sleep. Staying at house of people Connor knows. Very nice folks and a lovely house. Went for a walk on the beach. Now going to watch a DVD then to bed for an early night.

J

Singapore Airport...

2008-06-28T11:47:00.006+01:00

Awaiting my flight to Adelaide. We have checked into this lounge-like place that has free food and showers and internet. Really nice airport this. I thought I'd take this opportunity to throw up some photos. Enjoy!

Our Last Day in Bangkok

2008-06-27T15:08:00.003+01:00

I must apologize first as Connor (and subsequently his memory card) are not with me in the internet cafe and thus there shall be no photos today. This is a real pity as there is a rather excellent one of me with a larger-than-life kung-fu panda.

As Willy was tired after his evening out with Bob he did not join us for le petit-dejeuner. The three of us then went for a swim. After lunch we went for a bit of walk around China Town. Very noisy. Very dirty. Very warm.

We headed back in the direction of the hotel and grabbed some dinner along the way. After such, the other dudes when for another swim and I had a very relaxing massage, then I read for a while.

The evening was spent dandering along the Khao San Road looking at all the crap that is for sale.

We leave early tomorrow morning for about 20 hours of travel. Flying to Singapore at 11.45, spending 7 hours in the airport and then catching a 7 hour flight to Adelaide. We should arrive about 6.40am (Sunday) local time - 10pm Saturday with you. I hope to furnish you with many photos then (look out for the panda) as my internet time will not be charged by the minute!

Jas

A brief history of today

2008-06-26T17:43:00.001+01:00

Short update; it's late and I'm very tired!

Up early and C, A and I went to temple that we couldn't get into last night. Really nice. Spent couple hours there. Stopped for waffle on way back. Went to swimming pool in early afternoon then headed out to big shopping centre. Dandered about there and got something to eat. Went bowling again. I was crap this time. We then sat in Starbucks and waited for Wil's Thai friend, Bob, to come meet us. Went to cinema and saw Kung Fu Panda in the IMAX theatre. Quality film. Off to bed now. Goodnight all.

J

A temple visit or two

2008-06-25T15:05:00.004+01:00

We arose reasonably early this morning and after a hearty breakfast headed out to see some sights in BKK. Our first stop was The Grand Palace (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palace). Very interesting place with lots of strange statutes and temples, and a lot of gold leaf.

Oh and by the way, the trousers are not mine; they were compulsory for those of us with exposed lower legs. Alan was not allowed to wear his tights either.

Next we went to Wat Pho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Pho), The Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Dead on. Quite a few sort of peculiar customs in these temples. They make you take your shoes and hat off, then you spot a security dude sitting in the corner watching the TV! Strange place.

We walked (a fair distance) back to the hotel about lunch time and spent some of the afternoon in the pool. We went out again and got some dinner off the side of the road. Quite tasty actually. Connor then thought it would be a good idea to go and see another temple at night. After about half an hour's walking and a boat ride we arrived at it to find it was shut. However, the journey was not entirely wasted as I think he got a couple of nice night photos. We got back to the hotel via a "Tuc Tuc" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuc_tuc). Four of us crammed in the back of that was good steam.

And finally, the hair-do. It seems to have sparked some reactions. Got it fixed up a wee bit more tonight and, after sleeping on it last night it's sticking out a little bit less. When it grows a bit it will stick out even less. I liked your suggestion about the tongue piercing Uncle Michael. I might look into that one.

J

A lot of happenings...

2008-06-24T15:59:00.005+01:00

So I guess I must first apologize for the severe lack of blog posts of recent days. I shall blame this on a variety of things; poor internet access, expensive internet access and sheer laziness!

We have now arrived back in Bangkok and Connor joined us this afternoon. Here are the details of the last few days; although I have, unfortunately, left my journal in the hotel so they are off the top of my head. I have also forgotten the memory card from the camera so the only photos will be those that Connor has taken this evening. I'm a bit forgetful these days...

We arrived on Phi Phi on Tuesday the 10th. Very nice twin islands called Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Lay - Don being the bigger of the two and the site of our hotel. We spent four nights here and our activities were mainly just relaxing on the beach etc. We were kicking a football about one day and were challenged to a 3-a-side game against some dudes from Iran. Needless to say we won. "We're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland..."
Another notable event in our time in Phi Phi was a boat trip to the sister Island, Phi Phi Lay, where there is a beach called Maya Bay. This is one of the locations where the film "The Beach" was shot. Needless to say Leo wasn't still about - we had to suffice with the entertainment of two young, excitable Thai guys body boarding on the waves, only without body boards... A strange feat which usually resulted in their trunks getting filled with sand.

We left Phi Phi on the 14th and traveled by sea, land and sea again to the Island of Koh Samui where we were to stay for 3 nights: this was a pity as it was easily the most beautiful place we had been yet. Our activities again involved lots of relaxing and a lot of pool at the various bars along the main road. However, the highlight of the stay was the meal we ate on our first evening. Divine. I'm not going to include details here as I want to attempt to cook it for some people when I get back and I want to keep it a surprise...

A short trip on the 17th saw us arrive on Ko Pha Ngan. We were to stay here 4 nights with the "main attraction" to be the "Full Moon Party" on Wednesday the 18th. It, in fact, turned out to be the only "attraction" - and it (as I'm sure you can tell by my inverted commas) wasn't much of an attraction either. There is not much that we didn't see or hear at it - none of it repeatable on here. If you really want to know, you can ask me when I get back! We spent the next few days just killing time waiting to move on as there really was just nothing to do! In fact, the most "interesting" event occurred on the first evening when we saw a local on a scooter (no helmet) wipe-out and wrap himself around a lamp post. He was moving a bit, but there was some blood and an Ambulance (Ford Transit with flashy lights) came and picked him up.

We (gladly) moved on to Koh Tao on the 21st. Another beautiful spot where we were to spend 2 nights, which, again wasn't enough. We only really had one full day here and most of it was spent at a Muay Thai (Thai kick-boxing) gym"working out". I say working out, but I went on cross-trainer for 20 minutes then Al and I threw a medicine ball at each other while the ever vain William pumped some iron.

The 21st saw us leave for our overnight return journey to Bangkok. It started on a boat. This didn't bode well as we sat in the waiting room watching sweat-ridden, green-faced passengers emerge from the boat we were about to get in...
Our sense of foreboding was justified: the worst boat journey in the history of man. The boat was being thrown about like, well, like a boat in a storm. I somehow managed to sleep for about an hour - and miss the various people partaking in synchronized projectile vomiting.
The bus ride wasn't much better; it felt like the bus had square wheels. Not fun!

We eventually arrived about 4.30 am and, after some farting about with the bloke at reception, we were able to check in to our rooms and get some shut-eye.

Got up about lunch time today and, after eating, headed to the airport to collect Connor.

After dinner I had a slight adjustment to my appearance and thus is the subject of my photos this evening. They aren't sitting just right yet as they are just freshly done...

Another quick, short update (Sorry!)

2008-06-18T07:42:00.004+01:00

We arrived on Ko Pha Ngan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_Pha_Ngan) yesterday. I'll probably not be able to do much updating until we get back to Bangkok - I'll write a good long one then!

We leave here on Saturday to move to Ko Tao (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_Tao) where we will be staying for two nights. We leave there on Monday afternoon to travel back overnight to Bangkok where we will hopefully meet Connor at the airport late Tuesday afternoon.

As I said, I'll write a long post (hopefully including some photos) about what we've been up to recently.

Cheers,

J

Koh Samui

2008-06-14T14:56:00.002+01:00

After a long day's travelling we have arrived on Koh Samui http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_Samui.

I'm pretty tired this evening so that's about all I'm going to say!

I hope you're all well

J

Phi Phi...

2008-06-11T15:14:00.002+01:00

We have arrived on the Island of Phi Phi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Phi_Islands. The internet access is not the greatest so updates will not be too frequent.

There are quite a few tropical storms about here - we had a whole afternoon of very heavy rain today.

The scenery here is beautiful. I shall try and furnish you with some photos in the near future.

J

Some Photos...

2008-06-08T15:16:00.008+01:00

Sorry there are lots of strange gaps for some reason. Enjoy!

Our Hotel

The Beach

A beautiful sunset

A rough day...

2008-06-07T15:19:00.002+01:00

Indeed it was. Most of my day was spent in bed after a slight touch of "the runs". It is difficult to cite the source of such as the three of us had exactly the same dinner on Friday night. I, however, was the only one to have a coconut milkshake to drink. William tells me coconut is a natural laxative so I'm putting it down to that!

Al also had a bit of a bad day. The shower in our hotel room is, shall we say, slightly variable in the water temperature it produces. While in the shower, Al was hit with a particular burst that, in his words, "would scelp ye". He jumped backwards, only for his heels to land on the inclined bit of the bath. He slipped forward and hit his back off the edge of the bath. He has recovered reasonably well - and some credit must go to the minibar, which provided some cold beer cans to apply to the "wound".

While we are on the topic of showers I must also warn any prospective travellers to Thailand. The showers here produce quite high pressure, thin jets of water. On my first entrance to the shower at this hotel (the same one that attacked Al) I was hit with a ferocious jet that, to put it mildly, caused great pain to a certain part of my male anatomy. Be warned.

We had our first tropical storm today - it's still going on. We got a soaking on the way home from dinner. It was quite good fun actually. Warm rain isn't too bad.

I must apologise, there are no photos for you today. I haven't got many due to my day of the runs. I'll try tomorrow...

J

A long old journey...

2008-06-06T14:00:00.004+01:00

Good evening one and all from Krabi. It is VERY hot here. Took a long time to get here too; longer, in fact, than it took me to get from Belfast to Bangkok! The train from BKK was due to leave at 17.05, which it did, only to reverse back into the station. It did this a further FOUR times (in and out), each time passing by a small elephant sculpted from a hedge. The train eventually left the station for the fifth and final time at about five past six. The train ride itself was very interesting, especially the toilet - literally a hole in the floor directly out to the track! Can't see that one working too well for translink.

We pulled into our station about 6.15am, just after watching a beautiful sunrise. We grabbed some breakfast then embarked on an almost 4 hour bus journey to Krabi bus station. I must admit I slept for most of it (having not got much sleep on the train) and so I didn't see much of the countryside. From Krabi bus station we jumped on the back of a van thing with some other tourists and were delivered to the door of our hotel, just about in one piece at about 2pm - almost 24 hours after leaving our hotel in BKK! The driver of the van thingy was a little bit mad (like most drivers in Thailand); overtaking on hills, blind corners and the like. I found it was best to think of the experience as an adrenaline sport. You're not quite sure if you're going to make it out alive! lol

Al and I spent most of the afternoon in the pool, and Will went to the beach to work on "the tan". I think we spent a little too long in the pool as we were of a similar wrinklidge to that of raisins.

We went for a lovely dinner on the beach front (sweet and sour chicken all round) and met a girl from Holland called Rosie. There was a nice sea breeze to cool us off.

I'll get some photos of the place up tomorrow.

J

A second hello and some pictures...

2008-06-05T04:04:00.012+01:00

Thanks for your comments on the previous post. I didn't expect anybody to even read this thing! I now feel a responsibility to up-date it often! lol

We leave BKK this afternoon to travel on over night train to Krabi. Should be an experience if nothing else.

I had some Thai green curry last night. It's a tad warmer than the ones we get in jars back home. My mouth was on fire after it. Thankfully there have been no gastronomical consequences thus far!

Here are a couple of photos from yesterday... (Having started to upload these I will only have time for 3 - the internet is quite slow here!)

Some underwater ones:

While in the pool, Will attempted a spectacular dive...only to bang his head quite hard on the bottom of the pool. Luckily Al and I were on hand... to laugh heartily.

We also went bowling in a massive shopping centre. We got stroked in the taxi on the way there for 170 Bhat. Only cost 60 on the way back! I got my highest ever score of 195 (I know that is still quite low!)

Hopefully there will be good internet access in Krabi too - I shall speak to you all soon. For now, keep well.

Jas

Hello from Bangkok

2008-06-04T06:03:00.001+01:00

Arrived in BKK yesterday. Just relaxed for a while with a long swim, a leisurely dinner and a Thai massage. Everything is so cheap; a half hour massage was 100 Bhat - that's 160p! The weather is quite hot and sticky but the sun hasn't been out much yet so the heat is not oppressive.

This morning we went to a travel agent and have arranged what we are doing in the three weeks before Connor arrives. We are heading down South to Krabi, Phi Phi, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. All rooms with A/C and breakfast. 17000 Bhat. That's 283 pounds for almost three weeks!

Photos to come soon...

Hi Folks!

2008-05-31T16:01:00.006+01:00

Welcome to my travel blog! As you probably know already I leave on Monday for my round-the-world travels. I hope to use this space to keep you all up to date with what I'm doing. Internet access allowing, I will try to post stuff a couple of times a week.

Y'all should be able to leave comments on any posts I do make fairly easily - I'd love you to do so (just keep it clean ;-)). All you have to do is click the "# Comments" link below a post and you can type in your message. If you don't have a goggle ID, select the Name/URL option and stick your name in. Easy Peasy!

I hope you all enjoy your summers and I will see you in August!

Jas