Zoe's World Adventure
In and around World
So this is the start of my trip from Australia to Vietnam, Thailand, China, Mongolia, Russia, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe and then home. I'm having a year off from work and blowing all my money on travelling to all the places you read about in books but never seem to have the time to go to. Those of you who can't join me can live vicariously through my blog, the rest of you I hope to see somewhere in the world.
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler mroc2103
-
1
Another Day in the City
I'm sitting in my hotel room this morning and surprise surprise it's raining again! I'm hoping that the weather is clear in Sapa for the weekend. I... Continue reading »
-
2
Volunteering in Da Nang
Here are the blog entries from my other journal while I was in Da Nang working as a volunteer.
Sorry about the photos not exactly matching th... Continue reading »
-
3
It seems to rain a lot here
I've been in Hanoi for a couple of days now and it seems to have rained for at least 50% of the time since I arrived. It's a bit of a shock after D... Continue reading »
-
4
It did stop raining eventually
On Monday I decided to get out of the city for the day and set off on a one-day trip with Et-Pumpkin to Hoa Lu and Tam Coc.
I arrived at the... Continue reading »
-
5
The Perfume Pagoda
Today I went on a tour to the Perfume Pagoda. I was expecting large crowds as it warns you in the guidebooks that it is a popular day trip from Han... Continue reading »
-
6
Ah, the beautiful Mountains!
I was so glad to leave Hanoi on Friday with Mum. I'm well and truly over Hanoi and its scams and rip offs.
The train to Sapa is quite an even... Continue reading »
-
7
Back to Hanoi
Well, you may have read my review of the hotel that we stayed in Hanoi and that gives you an idea what the couple of days were like. To arrive off... Continue reading »
-
8
Do you think the Vietnamese have a word for debacle?
We set off on Wednesday morning for our three day trip to Halong Bay. It turned out to be a very interesting trip (read debacle!). We had a good br... Continue reading »
-
9
Hue, Glorious, Hue!
I'm so pleased to be back down in Central Vietnam. We had a trouble free flight down from Hanoi and easily made it to the bus to Hue that morning.... Continue reading »
-
10
A little Oasis in Vietnam
Sorry that it's taken me so long to write in this entry. The internet was down for most of the time that we were in Hoi An so it was difficult to d... Continue reading »
-
11
How's the Serenity!
We decided to go to Da Lat instead of the Mekong because of the heat and our desperate need not to be on another tour debacle. And we are very glad... Continue reading »
-
12
Oh the glitz!
It seemed to take forever to get to Bangkok given that it is only a couple of countries away. I left the hotel in HCMC before 9 am and it was... Continue reading »
-
13
The Great Wall was well...Great
I arrived in Beijing finally after spending all day travelling. Our flight was delayed because some people decided not to board and their luggage had... Continue reading » -
14
There are a lot of people in China and most of them were in Tiananmen Square!
Last night we went out in the pouring rain to go the acrobats. They were amazing. The group that we saw were the number 1 Acrobat Class and it was... Continue reading »
-
15
And so the Journey Begins
It is a long way to Ulaan Baatar on the train. Especially when you have a cold.
We set off from Beijing very early in the morning in ou... Continue reading »
-
16
Mongolia is like .... WOW!
We arrived in Ulaan Baatar on Thursday afternoon and hit the hotel straight away. We were all tired and dirty after being on the train for a couple... Continue reading »
-
17
To first appearances Russia is a little bit bleak
It was a long trip on the train from Mongolia to Russia not helped by the over nine hours that we spent going through the border procedures. We tra... Continue reading »
-
18
A lovely little village
I was sick while we were on the train coming across Russia and I still wasn't better in Suzdal so I didn't do a huge amount while I was there. The... Continue reading »
-
19
Moscow, Moscow!
Here we go. I'm finally catching up on the rest of the Russian trip.
We arrived in Moscow in the late afternoon and went straight to o... Continue reading »
-
20
I don't know what to call this but I have to give it a name.
We arrived in St Petersburg in the early morning and bundled all our stuff off the train and into dodgy taxis. The drivers were obviously ex-formul... Continue reading »
-
21
Thank God I'm back in Europe
It was a nice enough train trip to get to Helsinki, only 5 hours on the train. Customs was surprisingly painless, they took our passports when we g... Continue reading »
-
22
Estonia is really surprising
Estonia was totally not what I expected. I had an impression that we were going to be visiting relatively poor countries that would be something li... Continue reading »
-
23
The Baltic Trip Continues
We arrived in Riga in the middle of the day after a not bad trip on the bus from Estonia. We walked for what seemed like an eternity with our bags... Continue reading »
-
24
I really liked Lithuania
We spent another couple of hours getting here on a bus but again it wasn't a bad trip and there is quite nice scenery. Odd thing about Lithuania is... Continue reading »
-
25
A wonderful place to visit, even if it is really really cold
We weren't in the main town in Aukstatija but in a little village called Guicai which isn't marked on the map. It's about 20 minutes drive into the... Continue reading »
-
26
A City with a Sadness about It.
I was a bit worried coming through on the train from Lithuania that the passport man wasn't going to give mine back. It didn't help that he thought... Continue reading »
-
27
I had no idea that they had proper forests in Europe
I had a fantastic time in Bialowieza. It's not really on the tourist trail at all and I think that I met three other native english speakers in the... Continue reading »
-
28
I may be giving Zamosc a raw deal but I was pleased to leave.
Well, it was a bit of a disaster from the start and this morning I was very happy to leave Zamosc.
I arrived on the bus from Lublin at about... Continue reading »
-
29
The Bus Tour of Eastern Poland
This is just a helpful section for people who are having trouble with bus timetables and getting anywhere other than Warsaw from Bialowieza. I was... Continue reading »
-
30
Much nicer than Zamosc
I was so pleased to get here. The bus dropped me off at the Communist monument on the edge of town and even without signs I managed to work my way... Continue reading »
-
31
Icon Central
I arrived on the bus in Sanok and should have got off at the earlier bus stop and saved myself a whole lot of walking. It says that it's only a km... Continue reading »
-
32
Another Polish Placename with not enough vowels!
I woke up on Saturday morning to find that it was raining again. It has rained almost everyday since I arrived in Poland. I'm not sure if that is n... Continue reading »
-
33
It's so good to be back in the land of people who speak English!
Well, I finally made it to the hostel on the first night after walking forever and via I think most of the suburbs of Krakow to get here. I walked... Continue reading »
-
34
A truly horrific place
The Polish name may not be familiar but is the village where the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps is located. It's one of the most visited to... Continue reading »
-
35
Slovakia is really beautiful
I've now left Poland and have arrived in Kosice in Slovakia after a long day on the train. It took about 10 hours total to get here but was a comfy... Continue reading »
-
36
Glorious little town
I arrived on the bus to Levoca at lunchtime and it was a truly glorious day. It was sunny, it was bright and it was vaguely warm even. I headed str... Continue reading »
-
37
Fantastic Castle
I did the castle and the monastery as a day trip from Levoca. It's easy to catch one of the local buses from Levoca to Spisske Podhradie and then w... Continue reading »
-
38
A nice enough place but not worth a long stay.
I got to Zilina on the bus to find that there were a lot of people in town. There is some sort of festival in September which seems to be quite pop... Continue reading »
-
39
Wow there are so many tourists!
The Czechs are so slack about border security. The Slovaks did at least stamp me out so someone knows where I am!
I did quite well at finding... Continue reading »
-
40
Very Cute but lots of Tourists
I arrived in Cesky Krumlov in the pouring rain which is not the best way to arrive as the bus station is a bit of a walk from everywhere else. The... Continue reading »
-
41
Horendous Hrensko
Just a hint to others. If you are going to a popular local tourist destination and it is a long weekend, it does help to have booked accommodation... Continue reading »
-
42
I like this place
I had a long day on the train to get from Decin to Bratislava. The train was of course on time to Decin having come from Berlin to get there (those... Continue reading »
-
43
I had no idea that Budapest was this big.
I didn't do anything on my first afternoon in Budapest other than find the hostel and then a supermarket to get some things for dinner. I was so im... Continue reading »
-
44
I wouldn't rave about this town.
We didn't get to do anything in Budapest on Monday morning before leaving on the train to Eger except have breakfast.
We had been warned at t... Continue reading »
-
45
A good spot to break the journey
We headed off in the early morning from Eger on the local bus and headed to a town closer to the border called Debrecen. I hadn't heard of this tow... Continue reading »
-
46
Like stepping back in time
We didn't stay in this actual town but in one of the small villages near it. We were in a home stay which was actually more like a bed and breakfas... Continue reading »
-
47
The home of Vlad Tepes
After our very early start, we all slept a lot on the trains on the way to Sighisoara and arrived in the early afternoon. Most of the sights are in... Continue reading »
-
48
The Houses have Eyes
We arrived in Sibiu in the early afternoon and it was raining and very very cold. We had trouble finding taxis at the train station but eventually... Continue reading »
-
49
Grey is the new Black
We arrived just after lunch in Brasov, one of the biggest cities in Romania. We were met at the station by Julian, our guide for the next couple... Continue reading »
-
50
The not at all spooky castle
We set off from Brasov at about 10.30 am with all our gear in the back of the minibus (and spread onto the seats as well). Julian was our guide a... Continue reading »
-
51
Great place to hike
We arrived in Sinaia in the late afternoon but it was still nice and sunny so we deposited our bags in the hotel (which had a lift, Woohoo!) and... Continue reading »
-
52
They really shouldn't let dictators decorate!
We arrived in Bucharest on the train just before lunch but it took a while to get to the hotel on the metro with all our luggage. It seemed like a muc... Continue reading » -
53
It was interesting getting here
It started off as a normal train trip to get into Bulgaria from Romania but it ended up being one of the funniest train trips that I have ever been... Continue reading »
-
54
Not the loveliest capital in Europe
We travelled for about three hours to get to Sofia on the bus and it was a very pleasant trip on our fancy coach. We passed through a lot of very b... Continue reading »
-
55
Hot Love: Bulgarian Style!
Bansko is a small ski resort in the middle of Bulgaria. It is the third most popular ski resort in Bulgaria and is hoping to get the 2014 Winter Ol... Continue reading »
-
56
Beautiful Setting
The monastery at Rila was founded in the 11th century and was started after St John of Rila died. He was a hermit who lived in caves in the valley... Continue reading »
-
57
They do really good icecream here
We arrived in Plovdiv after a couple of hours on the bus and the driver didn't know where the hotel was. Peter had to give him directions of the Lo... Continue reading »
-
58
It's Istanbul not Constantinople
We traveled for ages on the train through the suburbs of Istanbul before finally reaching the centre. All of the houses were covered in flags becau... Continue reading »
-
59
I'm sure that it's better in the summer
I got into Zagreb in the late evening and headed into town on the airport bus. Luckily it was easy to find as I was tired and really just wanted to... Continue reading »
-
60
Buns of Steel Baby
There are a lot of stairs in Dubrovnik. I am the stair master. I have mastered the stairs. The maps of Dubrovnik don't really make it clear quite h... Continue reading »
-
61
You can see why the emperor built his retirement home here.
I arrived in Split after dark so didn't get to see much on my first night. My first priority was to find the youth hostel and get rid of my bag. I... Continue reading »
-
62
Lovely sunny little town
Today was another gorgeous day so I headed out of Split to Trogir which is about 30 km north. I had a little trouble finding where I was meant to c... Continue reading »
-
63
Cute little town but not much to do in the off season
I arrived in Zadar at about lunchtime on the bus from Split. The website for the place that I was staying said that it was only 1.5km from the city... Continue reading »
-
64
Absolutely Stunning
I came here on a day trip from Zadar and it was absolutely lovely. I didn't even get to see the whole park and it was still worth the trip in from... Continue reading »
-
65
A little lacking in activity
I arrived in Pula after a long day on the bus from Zadar. I got to see plenty of the coast from the bus which was nice though, it did rain for most... Continue reading »
-
66
Oh my God it was cold!
I came to Divaca solely to go to the Skocjan Caves which are about 3km away. I caught the train up from Croatia and it was a pretty trip. I got to... Continue reading »
-
67
Gorgeous despite the cold
I arrived in the mid-afternoon on the train and headed straight to the hostel. There is a nice feel about Ljubljana and for once I was able to find... Continue reading »
-
68
Beautiful Bled
I arrived in Bled at lunchtime and headed to the hostel. It's a converted house and is really nice. I dropped everything off and headed down to the... Continue reading »
-
69
Bring your wellies!
I arrived in Venice in the mid afternoon and I walked through to the hostel from the station. It was a little longer carrying luggage than it said... Continue reading »
-
70
Bloody border towns!
This won't be necessary for much longer because the border is disappearing in the new EU borders but at the moment you still have to go through the... Continue reading »
-
71
Friendly Florence but bring your credit card!
There is a lot to do in Florence but you can get a lot done quickly in a couple of days if you come in the off season. I arrived on the train and t... Continue reading »
-
72
Fabulous Rome
I arrived in Rome at lunchtime on Sunday and it was raining. It had been lovely in Florence when I left and started to rain just as the train was e... Continue reading »
-
73
The lights of Barcelona
I arrived in the early evening on the plane from Rome and headed straight to the hostel. There are regular buses to the city from directly out the... Continue reading »
-
74
Pretty Valencia
I liked Valencia. It was a good mix of the new and the old with neither taking centre stage.
I arrived on the bus from Barcelona and w... Continue reading »
-
75
Bloody public holidays!
Let me explain the accommodation issue alluded to in the previous entry. I went to book a hostel in Granada and Cordoba on Tuesday morning, only to... Continue reading »
-
76
Cold Cordoba
Whoever told me that it would be warm in Spain at this time of the year was wrong. It's not. I'm very glad to have all my warm clothes with me beca... Continue reading »
-
77
Hooray for the sunshine!
It was a very comfortable trip on the bus to Seville. I have noticed that the bus drivers in Spain are some of the most disagreeable people on the... Continue reading »
-
78
I'm just not sure about Madrid
Stay tuned to hear what I did in Madrid. I can't write now but I'll just quickly try to explain the title. Madrid is a strange city. It isn't all that... Continue reading » -
79
My visit with Bosi and Vanessa
Most people aren't going to be that interested in this entry as very few tourists visit Erlangen and I would probably not go there either except that... Continue reading »
Would you like to comment or ask a question?