Around the world in 8 months
In and around World
Well, it's pretty clear from my title what this jouney is all about..my crazy trip into the big wide world on a round the world ticket! Wooohhoooooo! Work and all that are going to have to wait for a while :) Leaving London my first destination is Hong Kong on sunday, and from there I'll be drifting around China and India for a few months before heading over to Australia and New Zealand. Then there's a wee while on a Cook island, a few days in the US and back home. Phew!All very exciting and also a little bit scary.
And as exciting as it all is, it's also very sad leaving everything that I know and love behind for such a long time so I'll try and be good and keep you all updated with my whereabouts through this site. I've decided to do this blog thing so you don't get spammed with annoying mass emails but instead you can choose when to look into my annoying mass web diary ramblings. So bookmark this site and you can track my progress. I'm most excited about the fact that I get pins on the world map for all my destinations. Also if you zoom in on the map you get google earth pictures. So it's practically like you're there with me! How cool is that?!
So I fly out to Hong Kong on sunday...and go with the flow from there....to be back for some catch up boogy in March! :)
I hope you enjoy! And maybe become inspired to come and join me somewhere along the way... :) hugs all around
xxx Babsi xxx
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Travelbabs
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1
Panic packing
So here I am in the Wezembeek massiiiiiiiiif. Not much to report yet really, just thought I'd add it in for completeness sake, and to test my photo... Continue reading »
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2
Welcome to Asia
Fotos have arrived! So proud I am uploading them on a fully Chinese scripted Computer! Woohooo... Continue reading »
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3
Shopping mall sauna!
[For any travellers out there- if you're heading from Hong Kong to Guillin, go via Shenzen and not Guangzhuo, much easier and quicker and cheaper t... Continue reading »
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4
Guilin and Ling, our Chinese friend
Guilin
so we arrive in Guilin in a throng of a million people again and were kind of hoping to bump into Guilaume at the exi... Continue reading »
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5
Tourist overload!
Yangshuo
China defines yangshuo as a small sleepy backpackers paradise... and yet it still has 300,ooo inhabitants and the c... Continue reading »
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6
The Lonji rice terraces
Escaping the crowds for a while we headed to the Lonji rice terraces near Yangshuo. A huge area of hills covered in loads and loads of rice fields... Continue reading »
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7
Temples and cobblestones
Toilets
Arriving in Dali was quite a mission from Yangshuo involving a sleeper night train and then a 6 hour bus journey the next day... Continue reading »
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8
My first peak and asian boogy!
Lijiang
We'd heard that there's no point visiting Lijiang after Dali as it's more of the same but even more like Disneyland, but I act... Continue reading »
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9
Mountain adventures begin!!!
Overland from Zhongdian to Lhasa...without permit!
Preparations
After days and days of posting silly mess... Continue reading »
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10
Holy city of Lhasa
Am loving it. Although already very touristified and altered by the Chinese there's still a very magical mystical feel to this place and I love the... Continue reading »
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11
Four day trek to Mt Everst!!
The trek of all treks
For me Tibet was always going to be about the trekking but as it turns out everything here is d... Continue reading »
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12
Stranded in a jeep somewhere in the Tibet Himalaya
After a tearful goodbye from my Dutchie buddies in Lhasa it was time to move on and go and trek the holiest trek in the world. I had decided t... Continue reading »
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13
Three days trekking around Mt Kailash
So we arrived in Darchen to great views of Mt Kailash along the way. It's not the highest mountain in the area but very impressive because it's a b... Continue reading »
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14
Goodby Tibet- land of mountains, lakes and monasteries
So after the trek we went to Lake Manasarovar, which again was a beautiful mountain lake surrounded by huge peaks. From our vantage point on the hi... Continue reading »
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15
Crazy Kathmandu
I had not really mentally prepared for the change that would occur between Tibet and Nepal but the contrast is striking. From the Tibet border all... Continue reading »
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16
Goa- destruction in paradise
Paradise
From Kathmandu I got a flight to Delhi, where I stopped over for the night. I found a place close to the airport and 'splashe... Continue reading »
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17
Meeting Amma- 'The Hugging Mother' guru
So after we met those people on the train we decided to head for te ashram and see what life as a devotee is like for a few days. Man, waht an expe... Continue reading »
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18
Pure indulgence- houseboat trip fit for queens!
The train journey
Allepey was finally reached after a crazy train journey in regular sleeper class, i.e. no a/c, only a few random fa... Continue reading »
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19
Crumbling colonial fishing town
After the ahsram we were so happy to arrive in a new place, be on the road again and go and see normal life! Arriving in Kochi I straight away had a g... Continue reading » -
20
Steam train and tea plantations
We decided to come to Oopty to take a ride on a UN heritage protected steam train throught he hillside and tea plantations, it all sounded very lovely... Continue reading » -
21
I saw elephants!!
Mudumalai is a national park in Tamil Nadu and we headed there to stay in a jungle lodge and try and see some elephants. The only other jungle expe... Continue reading »
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22
musk oil for the cheeky cheeky?
Arriving in Mysore was a bit like arriving in a fairytale city. the main feature is a huge palace, once the Maharaja's summer residence. It's so impre... Continue reading » -
23
Jurassic park film setting??
Hampi
Hampi is a small little village that is just lovely! It's so laid-back and relaxed and very backpackery, so you can get yummy mi... Continue reading »
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24
Muslim bazaar overload
Hyderabad is easily the most crazy insane place I have been so far in India! Just unbelievable really. It's very strongly muslim and because it's r... Continue reading »
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25
Babs in Bollywood!!! (well nearly)
Journey to Mumbai
We arrived in Mumbai after our worst journey yet. An overnight bus from Hyderabad. We thought it had airconditioning... Continue reading »
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26
Holy cow- we made it to Varanasi!
It took us a 32 hour train journey to arrive, but it was worth every minute! And actually to be honest we treated ourselves to an airconditioned compa... Continue reading » -
27
Calcutta and the Mother Theresa Foundation
I've been inCalcutta for the last week volunteering with the Mother Theresa Foundation and it's been amazing! Calcutta is not really high on the to... Continue reading »
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28
Back in the mountains!
So here I am, back on my own again, back in the mountains! Darjeeling is pretty amazing- stunning views of Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest... Continue reading »
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29
Hardcore trekking in the Himalayas
So I've finally come back from the trek- 16 solid days of trekking later! And it was amazing- the views were incredible all along. Once again, very... Continue reading »
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30
Back at the burning ghats
After saying goodbye to Petter in Kathmandu the question for Ben and I was whether to do more (!) trekking or whether to do more sightseeing in Ind... Continue reading »
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31
Erotic temples in Khajuraho
Khajuraho is famous for only one thing- its erotic temples. It's in the iddel of nowhere and is only a little village with nothing of interest really,... Continue reading » -
32
The Taj Mahal.. more than the postcards show!
I originally hadn't been to interested in seeing the Taj Mahal- not something that I felt was a must-see but after 2months in Indai it seemed a bit si... Continue reading » -
33
Staying in the Golden Temple
(Fotos to come soon)
We arrived in Amritsar via a night's stopover in Delhi and it's incredible! The Golden Temple is beautiful beautif... Continue reading »
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34
Leaving India... :(
And so it is... my time in India has come to an end. I can't believe how fast it's gone and how much has happened and all the experiences I've had... Continue reading »
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35
Culture shock extreme!
So here I am in singapore...only a four hour flight away from Calcutta but probably the most drastic contrast I could have picked out of ever... Continue reading »
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36
Sydney sights and surfing
Can I just say Singapore airlines are amazing! The legroom on thoise planes is unreal, all the stewardesses are beautiful (mine looked like Halle B... Continue reading »
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37
The boots are back on!
Getting to New Zealand
Hmmm, yup. getting to New Zealand unfortunately took two attempts. At the first atempt I got stuck at Sydney... Continue reading »
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38
Merry Christmas from the beaches of New Zealand
From Te Anau to Marahau
Once the Milford walking was over we had to get all the way from the south end of the south island up to Nel... Continue reading »
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39
Wine tasting tipsiness
Blenheim is famous for one thing- wine! And so of course when there it is obligatory to taste as much wine as possible! :) So that's what we set ou... Continue reading »
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40
happy 2007! Chilling in Golden Bay
First of all a very happy new year to all of you, hope you all had a fantastic time wherever you were and whatever you were doing!
For a few... Continue reading »
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41
Rafting the Buller river
So on the 2nd sarah and I set off to go and find a rental car that would take us cruising around the South island for a few weeks. And trust us to get... Continue reading » -
42
Via the west coast up to a mountain pass and snowy peaks
This country really is amazing! Within a few hours drive the scenery changes so dramatically! From Murchison we drove over west-wards,a long... Continue reading »
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43
Adrenaline action
From here the map gets a little bit messy and confused, there's been a lot fo driving to random places. So I'm going to keep it simple and only w... Continue reading »
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44
Skydiving from 4500m!
Ater Queenstown we took a little breather in a place called Kinloch, real Lord of the Rings territory. Absolutely stunning scenery. Apparently that... Continue reading »
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45
With ice pick and crampons through a world of ice
From wanaka our next destination was the Fox glacier, where we were going to do some walking on ice...there are two massive glaciers on the west coast... Continue reading » -
46
We swim with the rarest dolphins in the world!!
Christchurch
From Fox we had to cross over to the East coast of New Zealand once again so that I could do the TranzScenic train ride w... Continue reading »
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47
Closley escaping death by killer orca
Hanmer Springs
From Akaroa we headed upwards and stopped a night at Hanmer Springs, famed for its thermal srpings resort... but of cou... Continue reading »
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48
Babs n Ben back on bikes
From Kaikoura it was up to Blenheim for some more sneaky wine-tasting and on to Picton to say goodbye to Sarah. We had a sad moment in the car listeni... Continue reading » -
49
Good horsey
After cycling we headed back up to Golden Bay to stay with Ben's family for a little while. they have the most amazing property so I've just been t... Continue reading »
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50
A cool capital!
Flying over to the Nroth isalnd was an experience in itself. On a little plane with great views over the South Island mountains, the sounds and the... Continue reading »
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51
Sledging through active volcano craters and trekking around Mt DOOOOM ( from Lord of the Rings)
This trek has been an absolute highlight. The scenery up around Tongariro is just stunning. So my trusty booties got a deserving last outing! We we... Continue reading »
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52
Ending on a high
So on my own again I headed to Taupo to spend my last couple of days. Taupo is a nice place by a lake that is mainly known for its adrenaline scene... Continue reading »
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53
Paradise island exists! And I get my very own offical Cook Islands Drivers Licence
After a flight and a time difference of 23 hours that really confused me I arrived in Rarotonga a whole day earlier than I'd left New Zealand! And arr... Continue reading » -
54
San Fran, man!
After Rarotonga I really felt like I was on my way home...but I had one more stop to go. I'd really wanted to go and visit San Francisco again beca... Continue reading »
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55
Stats, summary and reflections on an unforgettable trip
So... it's finally come to an end. Just under 8 months on the road and I'm back in London where it all started, with slightly more of a tan and man... Continue reading »
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