The 'I can't believe we are doing this' Trip
In and around World
Hi Everyone,
Just a quick entry to start our Journal. We leave for our new life on Sunday 14th May which is in 6 weeks time. The basic plan as it stands at the moment is:
Fly to Moscow and spend 3 weeks travelling on the Trans Mongolian Rail from Moscow to Beijing, spending time in Siberia and Mongolia.
Then spend 4 weeks touring through China, taking in Xian, Tibet Grasslands etc before arriving in Hong Kong.
Then we plan to spend some time in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore before jetting to Australia.
After approx 3 months touring across Oz, its on to New Zealand for 2 months, then US with a stop at Fiji on the way, Canada then back home - Aahh!
The plan is to keep you all up to date at various points on our travels and hope that you will all send us lots of emails so we don't miss you all too much.
Love to you all, and take good care of Ripp! for us.
Lots of Love
Jan and Lee xxxxxx
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Jan & Lee
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1
Final Countdown
Its now 9 days before the start of our trip and we are feeling a mixture of nervousness and excitement. I left my job last week and Lee leave... Continue reading »
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2
Mmmmm Moscow!
Hi All,
Well our epic journey has begun, and what a city to begin it in. Lots of fun on the flight when we were asked to complete the R... Continue reading »
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3
Probably The Worst Airport In The World - Heathrow!
Spent 3 hours in transit in Heathrow Airport - This place doesn't get any better and is probably the dirtiest, smelliest, unfriendliest airport i... Continue reading » -
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Welcome to Siberia Where The Temperature Is B***dy Freezing
Arrived in Irkutsk after 4 nights on the Trans Siberian Rail from Moscow. The first 3 days of the journey were pretty relaxed with both of us... Continue reading »
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5
Magnificient Mongolia!!
Arrived in Mongolia after a 2 night train journey from Ikutsk in Siberia. Left temperatures of 1 degree to arrive in Mongolia to a temp of 25... Continue reading »
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6
Hurrahh, we are on solid ground again - Beijing!
First impressions of Beijing - where do we start......
Everyone is putting a lot of time into preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games and everyw... Continue reading »
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Our Great Wall Adventure - Mutianyu
Around 90 minutes by bus from Beijing, we took our first glimpse (well apart from a bit of one from the Trans Mongolian train) of the famous Great... Continue reading »
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Home of the Terracota Warriers - Xi'an
After an overnight sleeper train from Beijing, we arrived bright and early into Xi'an. After the frantic pace of Beijing, we found Xi'an a gr... Continue reading »
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9
Our Introduction to Tibet
We arrived into Langhou via an overnight train from Xi'an (8 hours) bright and refreshed. After a quick breakfast in a local hotel we took a... Continue reading »
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Langmusi, our home from home in Tibet
Left Labrang for a 5 hour bus ride to the small village of Langmusi which is nestled between two hillsides. The village is home to two monast... Continue reading »
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11
Goodbye Tibet - Hello Songpan
Took us 6 hours bus journey along crazy Chinese roads to reach the small town of Songpan. The town still has the original city walls (Qing Dy... Continue reading »
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12
Chengdu - luxury!
Spend our first morning in Chengdu visiting the Panda Sanctuary which was about an 1 hour drive from Chengdu. The Pandas were in various encl... Continue reading »
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13
Backpackers Paradise of Yangshuo
Another early start as we had to leave Chengdu at 5.30am for our 'red eye' flight to Guilin. After a two hour delay due to bad weather in Gui... Continue reading »
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Hong Kong - Shopping Mecca and our last stop in China.
Arrived into Shenzhen at lunch time and walked to the Hong Kong border which appeared to be situated in a sort of shopping centre..... After passin... Continue reading »
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One Night In Bangkok - well more than one !!!
Flew into Bangkok yesterday from Hong Kong with no accomodation - we must be getting braver. Took a taxi to Khao San Road which is the main b... Continue reading »
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The Long Road To Siem Reap!
We had an early start today as our bus was leaving at 6.30am from Bangkok bound for Siem Reap. We had heard horror stories about the cheap bu... Continue reading »
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Angkor Wat - The Khmer Jewel
After one night in the Winter GH we decided to move closer into town and took a tuk-tuk to the Center Market area. We found good rooms at a p... Continue reading »
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Reality Check - A Visit to Aki Ra's Landmine Museum
A must for anyone spending time in Siem Reap is a visit to Aki Ra's Landmine Museum. You must be careful that you are visiting this one as th... Continue reading »
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Phnom Penh - a short visit
Took the early bus to Phnom Penh today - we were dishearted when a ropey old minibus came to pick us up and we squeezed into the last two seats wit... Continue reading »
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Enough of the City - Heading For The Beach - Sihanoukville
After two days in P.P. we decided enough was enough and we desparately needed to have some fresh air and see the sea - so we booked a USD5 ticket o... Continue reading »
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Goodnight Cambodia, Good Morning Vietnam!
Took the cheap option of USD6 bus ticket from Phnom Penh to Saigon. This entailed us having to take a bus to the border at Moc Bai then walk... Continue reading »
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Whistle Stop Tour of Mekong Delta
We booked a short 2 day tour of the Mekong Delta from a Travellers Cafe on the same street as our Hotel for only USD15 pp which included the overni... Continue reading »
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Cooler Climates in Dalat
Our bus ride from Saigon to Dalat took 8 hours but was one of the nicest bus journeys we have had since leaving the UK. There was only about... Continue reading »
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Flying Visit to Nha Trang
Left Dalat on the morning bus which takes 6 hours to reach Nha Trang, which is billed as the diving capital of Vietnam. The city is quite sma... Continue reading »
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The Only Place To Get Clothes Made - Hoi An
We took an overnight bus from Nha Trang to Hoi An which left Nha Trang at 7.30pm and finally arrived into Hoi An at 7am - will definately not repea... Continue reading »
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Hanoi
We left Hoi An on the 2.30pm train bound for Hanoi which would take us 14 hours give or take. We were origianlly going to take the bus which... Continue reading »
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Halong Bay
Left Hanoi at 7.30am for our 3 hour journey north to Halong Bay on a chockablock mini bus. The closer we got to the bay the more overcast it... Continue reading »
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Trekking In The Rain on Cat Ba Island - Mmmmm
We arrived on Cat Ba Island at 7.30am (very early for us) and were taken to our hotel in Cat Ba town around 10-15mins drive away. Basically C... Continue reading »
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15kg - Call That A Baggage Allowance!
Hanoi Airport is a very nice, clean airport - but - how expensive is this place. Major culture shock after the prices we have been used to pa... Continue reading »
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30
Bangkok - Again!
How busy was Bangkok second time around. Its amazing the difference 6 weeks can make to a city. We decided to take the airport bus to K... Continue reading »
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A Visit To The Bridge Over The River Kwai
We booked a trip from Bangkok to visit the River Kwai and the war graves in Kanchanaburi. It took us around 3 hours by mini bus to reach the... Continue reading »
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At Last - Luxury Accomodation At Krabi
Booked a 10,20am flight from Bangkok to Krabi with Air Asia as neither of us could face the 16 hour bus journey. Was worth every penny of the... Continue reading »
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Paradise Found - Koh Phi Phi!
It was soon time to leave our luxurous surroundings and head off to Phi Phi Island which took us around 1 1/2 hour by boat from Krabi. We lef... Continue reading »
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Our 'Beach' at Phi Phi Ley
Booked our longtail boat again for a mornings visit to Phi Phi Ley which was the location for the film 'The Beach'.
We had heard lots o... Continue reading »
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Phuket
We left Phi Phi on the early express boat bound for Phuket. We could see that the weather was pretty bad out at sea and around 30 mins into t... Continue reading »
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The Long Road to Langkawi
We had a very eventful, interesting journey to get here - in one piece I may add!
We left our hotel in Ao Nang by minibus for the 30 minute j... Continue reading »
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Langkawi - Island of Legends
Now we can see the island in the bright sun shine rather than the pitch black evening, we know we have picked a beautiful place to stay for a few d... Continue reading »
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Good To Be Back In Penang!
Our boat journey from Langkawi to Georgetown was supposed to take 2 1/2 hours but ended up taking 3 1/2 hours but the sea was fairly smooth so coul... Continue reading »
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Georgetown - The Wildlife Capital Of Penang
After 3 days in the beach resort of Batu Ferranghi, we opted for the shopping and cultural capital of Penang, Georgetown to spend 2 nights before w... Continue reading »
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Cameron Highlands - Strawberries and Tea Galore!
Took a bus from Penang to the cool hillside town of Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands. The ride took us around 5 hours and we saw the most... Continue reading »
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Taman Negara - Oldest Rainforst in the World - Official!
We're on the move again - we are feeling like true wanderers now! Left Tanah Rata at 10am for the 'epic' journey to Taman Negara. First... Continue reading »
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Kuala Lumpur - Feels Like Home
Quite an adventure getting from Taman Negara to KL. First we took a 2 hour longboat ride down the Tembling River. There was around 18 o... Continue reading »
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Sabah - The Land Below The Wind
Left our Kuala Lumper hotel this morning and took the 6am LRT bound for KL Sentral where we connected to the 6.30am SkyBus service to LCCT (the low... Continue reading »
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Sarawak - Home Of The Headhunters!
On the move again today. Caught the 1.45pm Air Asia flight from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching which only took around 1 hour. The airport in Kota Kinabal... Continue reading »
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Malacca - The Historic Heart of Malaysia
Said a very sad goodbye to Sarawak and boarded our Air Asia flight bound for KL. A taxi was waiting for us at KL to take us the rest of the way to... Continue reading »
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Singapore - The Commercial Heart of SE Asia!
Took a bus from the main bus station in Malacca which is around 15km out of the town to Singapore. The bus company was called Dilema which we hoped... Continue reading »
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Perth - Our Introduction To Australia
Arrived into Australia after a 5 hour flight from Singapore. Our introduction to the friendly Aussies began on our Qantas flight with a 'g'da... Continue reading »
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Fremantle
So excited about having our camper van that we decided to drive a whole 20km to Fremantle which I have to say I really preferred compared to Perth.... Continue reading »
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The Pinnacles
Have a rough plan for Australia formulated over a few beers last night so set off North to visit Shark Bay area including Monkey Mia before coming... Continue reading »
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Watching Wild Dolphins In Shark Bay!
On the road by 8am today on the first leg of our mega journey up to Monkey Mia. First port of call was Geraldton which was around 300km north... Continue reading »
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Margaret River - WA's wine region
Bound for the beautiful wine region of Margaret River today passing through the small towns of Bunbury and Busselton.
We stoppe... Continue reading »
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Augusta - Where The Two Oceans Meet!
Headed south from Margaret River bound for Augusta which is the furthest town South West in Australia. Its renowned as the place where the In... Continue reading »
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Valley Of The Giants
Drove through Walpole with the intention of stopping there but didn't look too promising so carried on driving looking for somewhere nicer. A... Continue reading »
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The Great Drive East - Nullarbor Plain
The Nullarbor Plain stretches over 1,000 km from Norseman, WA in the West to Ceduna, SA in the East.
Set off from Cheynes Beach first thing a... Continue reading »
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The Big Rock - Uluru
We stayed the night Curtin Springs Roadhouse which is around 100km east of Uluru at a free camp site – was the most amazingly HUGE grasshoppe... Continue reading »
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Kings Canyon
Left Uluru bound for Kings Canyon which is around 240km away. We had heard that you could get some nice photographs of the red rock canyon wh... Continue reading »
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Alice Springs
Had a wee lie in this morning before setting off for Alice Springs. Had to take the scenic route here as the most direct route was on unsealed road... Continue reading »
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Coober Pedy - Opal Capital of The World!
Set off from Erldunda bound for Coober Pedy – the opal capital of Australia! This was our second visit (first time on our north bound... Continue reading »
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Woomera
Rolled up at Woomera which is about 380km south of Coober Pedy just after 3pm and parked up at the caravan site. Set off on foot to find out... Continue reading »
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Barossa Valley
After the mysterious Woomera, we had all the excitement we could take and decided to beat a hasty retreat and head south, bound for South Australia... Continue reading »
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Wildlife Paradise Of Kangaroo Island
No visit to South Australia is complete without a visit across Backstairs Passage to Kangaroo Island. We booked the ferry ride through the To... Continue reading »
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Adelaide
After a fab couple of days in the Barossa Valley we caught a lift into Adelaide from our Pal Rosie. As Adelaide is her home city she proved to be a... Continue reading »
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Journey Along The Great Ocean Road
We headed south on the highway from Adelaide bound for Robe on the South East of South Australia. The winds were really picking up and it soon beca... Continue reading »
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Chillin' in Melbourne
Arrived into Melbourne late yesterday after driving up from Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road via Geelong. Stayed around 20km outside the city at... Continue reading »
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Echuca and The Murray River
We headed up the freeway to Echuca this morning. We really wanted to visit here on our way into New South Wales as it is the main town on the... Continue reading »
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The Capital - Canberra
We decided to take the scenic route from Echuca down via the Victorian Alpine Region to Camberra.
We headed south from Echuca down the Great... Continue reading »
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Newcastle - Just Like Home!!
No trip to Australia would be complete without us visiting our home towns namesake Newcastle. Newcastle is around 200km north of Sydney and sits on... Continue reading »
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Home of The Koala Hospital
We drove from Newcastle to Port MacQuarie - We broke the journey up and stayed overnight in Hawkshead which was a nice tranquil place to stay... Continue reading »
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Beerwah - Home Of Australia Zoo
On our 'have to go' list was Australia Zoo. Had spent the last few days driving North from NSW passing such places as Ballina, Lismore, Emerald Bay... Continue reading »
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71
Fraser Island
After stopping at Coolum Beach overnight we set off bound for Rainbow Beach – our gateway to Fraser Island. First stop was a small place call... Continue reading »
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Bundaberg - Home of Bundy Rum
Left Rainbow Beach (our campsite neighbours gave us a bottle of red wine and a mango to try this morning). The Australians are so nice and fr... Continue reading »
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The Great Barrier Reef - Wow!
Have a whole week in Cairns which is a real luxury. Have booked ourselves an apartment 'spurge' to reward ourselves after 10 weeks in a campervan –... Continue reading »
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Flying In Queenstown!
Tip for today – Queenstown is a very busy town and must get accomodation early! We managed to find a tourist park right in the centre of town... Continue reading »
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What An Amazing Place To Breakdown - Wanaka!
After leaving Arrowtown, we had gone no more than 20km up the most amazing pass when the temperature gauge hit RED - we thought we could smell burn... Continue reading »
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What A View! - Franz Josef Glacier
One of the main things we had wanted to see in New Zealand was the famous Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. We drove around 2 hours north of Haas... Continue reading »
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