Argentina to Australia
In and around World
We have decided to ‘up’ and leave our lives in London and travel the
world for a year. We will be spending approximately half our time in
South/Central America and the other half in Asia. The countries we are
currently planning to visit include Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru,
Ecuador (including the Galapagos Islands), Guatemala, Mexico, India,
Nepal, Tibet, China, Vietnam and Japan. We will then return to live in
Shannyn’s home country Australia. Let the adventures begin...
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Shannyn & Gary
-
1
Raining Cats and Dogs
Hola y Buenos Dias de Argentina. I could go on, obviously, but for those of you who can`t speak Spanish i`ll carry on in English...
We`ve bee... Continue reading »
-
2
Quaint Colonia
We caught the ferry from Buenos Aires (Argentina)to Colonia (Uruguay) arriving at lunch time. Colonia is a lovely little traditional style town sit... Continue reading »
-
3
Fish of the Day
We caught a bus from Colonia to Montevideo. Unfortunately we only had one full day in Montevideo as we were using it as a means of traveling to our... Continue reading »
-
4
Riding with the Gauchos
After a 5 hour bus ride north, through Uruguay, we arrived at the city of Tacuarembo where we met Juan, owner of the ranch we would be staying at f... Continue reading »
-
5
A Date with the Devil
Our next destination back in Argentina was Puerto Iguazu, in the far north eastern province of Misiones. This is the home of one of natures greates... Continue reading »
-
6
Caiman and Carpincho´s
In Posadas we began our journey in a 4x4 to an area known as the Esteros del Ibera. At first the journey seemed straight forward and we couldn... Continue reading »
-
7
Dirty Sheets and Day Trips
We arrived in Salta early in the morning with thoughts of spending time looking for a nice place to stay for the next few days. Ten minutes later h... Continue reading »
-
8
Conned at the Border
We arrived at the Argentinian border town of La Quiaca for our first potentially difficult land crossing, this time into Bolivia to the hustle and... Continue reading »
-
9
The Dollar Haircut
Tupiza was the first Bolivian town we stayed in. We were primarily here to organise and start our trip to the salt plains however we found that Tup... Continue reading »
-
10
The South West Circuit
Our next adventure was the 4 day trip around the South Western corner of Bolivia, through some of the most diverse landscapes you are likely to see... Continue reading »
-
11
What a Delightful City
We arrived in Sucre in the evening and after settling into our hostel we decided to check out the huge central food market. There were little stall... Continue reading »
-
12
Burger King and Cable TV
We arrived in La Paz early in the morning after our 12 hour night bus from Sucre. There are many road blocks in Bolivia as people use this to demon... Continue reading »
-
13
Animals of the Amazon
We decided to do a trip to the Pampas - a section of the Amazon Basin near Rurrenabaque. There are two airlines who fly here and we chose to go wit... Continue reading »
-
14
Banged Up Abroad
After a brief forray into the wilderness we were back in La Paz for our final two days in Bolivia. We had heard from fellow travellers that you cou... Continue reading »
-
15
A Tale of Two Equators
As we landed in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, our first impressions were of a spectacular city set high in the Andees. The city is surrounded by v... Continue reading »
-
16
Up Close with Nature
Next up was the Galapagos Islands. We chose to do an 8 day cruise on the only pirate style ship called the Sulidae. Our flight from Quito to Galapa... Continue reading »
-
17
A Market Too Far
Back in Quito we had time for a quick bust-up with the hostel before our 2 day excursion into the highlands to visit Otavalo.
We were checkin... Continue reading »
-
18
A Night in the Clinic
Three and a half hours south of Quito at an altitude of 1,800m is Baños, the thermal baths capital of Ecuador. Baños is the Spanish for baths and i... Continue reading »
-
19
Papallacta´s Pools
We did a day trip to Papallacta, an area in the highlands known for its thermal pools. We went to the most famous pool complex called Termas De Pap... Continue reading »
-
20
Welcome to the Jungle
Next up we headed to Cuyabeno National Park located in the Equadorian Amazon. Although we had already been to the Amazon in Bolivia our Equadorian... Continue reading »
-
21
Taking a Break
After roughing it for 3 months we decided we needed a few days to relax and chose to go to the Dominican Republic, a beautiful island in the Cari... Continue reading »
-
22
Time with the Turtles
We flew from Quito, Ecuador to San Jose, Costa Rica. Once we landed we thought we would save money by catching a bus into the city centre. This t... Continue reading »
-
23
Caribbean Flavour
From Tortuguero we travelled south down the Caribbean coast. First up was a 4 hour motor boat along an inland waterway parallel to the sea. This... Continue reading »
-
24
Zipping through the Trees
Santa Elena is a small town near the Monteverde cloud forest. It's a very relaxed place where tourists base themselves to explore the surrounding... Continue reading »
-
25
Shopping in San Jose
We headed back to San Jose for the last 3 days of our brief Costa Rican adventure. A five hour early morning bus getting us there with no problems a... Continue reading » -
26
Cobbled Streets and Coffee
We decided to skip Guatemala City due to the danger (on average 40 people are murdered per week) and lack of worthy sights so once we landed into t... Continue reading »
-
27
Dirty Sheets and Day Trips - Part 2
From Antigua we headed west on a two and a half journey to Panajachel, the main town on Lake Atitlan. This time we used the shuttle mini-bus, the s... Continue reading »
-
28
Market Day in Chichi
We did a day trip to the famous indigenous market in Chichicastenango. This market is located in the highlands and is a place where both locals go... Continue reading »
-
29
Bats Amazing
From Panajachel we needed to head north to Coban. Unfortunately this was not a straight forward journey, all tourist buses prefer to go east toward... Continue reading »
-
30
Jungle Ruins
Next we moved on up to the jungle region of El Peten, an interesting 5 hours in a shuttle bus as we headed into tropical vegetation once more. The... Continue reading »
-
31
Fleeced at the Border
Crossing the border was much easier than we thought it would be. From Flores in Guatemala we purchased a ticket that would take us all the way thro... Continue reading »
-
32
Beach Ruins
We´ve decided to write this section of our blog on the Mexican Caribbean in a way that will hopefully be useful to other travellers planning to go... Continue reading »
-
33
Sun, Sea, and Shopping
Our second port of call in the Mexican Caribbean was Playa Del Carmen. This was an easy and cheap (get a 2nd class bus but watch your belongings... Continue reading »
-
34
Clear Waters
Cozumel, our third port of call in the Caribbean, is quite expensive and a little difficult for backpackers. You either have the option of staying... Continue reading »
-
35
Finding a way to the Beach
We caught a bus from Playa Del Carmen to Cancun. It's an easy one hour journey. Cancun has two distinct accomodation areas. The hotel Zone which is... Continue reading »
-
36
Isle of Paradise
Our next stop in the Caribbean was an island off the mainland called Isla Mujeres. This is known as the backpackers Cancun as the beach is equ... Continue reading »
-
37
A Modern Wonder
An early morning ferry took us back to the mainland at Cancun and by 10am we were at the bus terminal boarding a second class bus to Chichen Itza.... Continue reading »
-
38
Swimming Underground
Merida has a reputation for arts and culture, we spent a couple of days here enjoying it and soaking up the atmosphere. As well as the many dance a... Continue reading »
-
39
Colonial Highlands
From Merida we caught an overnight bus to the beautiful colonial town of San Cristobal de Las Casas. This area reminded us of Antigua, Guatemala. T... Continue reading »
-
40
Day of the Dead
We caught yet another overnight bus from San Cristobal to Oaxaca. Oaxaca is also a beautiful city filled with a unique mixture of both colonial and... Continue reading »
-
41
A Week in the Capital
From Oaxaca we took an early morning 5 hour bus on to Mexico City. All seemed normal until just before we set off when a security woman came onto t... Continue reading »
-
42
Swarming with Beetles
From Mexico City we took a 4 hour bus south to the silver mining town of Taxco, one of the most picturesque places i have ever been to.
Set o... Continue reading »
-
43
Pacific Perfection
From Mexico City we caught an overnight bus to our next stop Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Coast. Puerto Vallarta is a huge bay officially called... Continue reading »
-
44
Colourful Highlands
With only a few days left in Mexico we left Puerto Vallarta and headed back towards the capital. We took a night bus to Guanajuato, another lovely... Continue reading »
-
45
When Gary Met Mickey
We left Mexico City with all intentions of catching a short flight to L.A. and then a connecting flight to our next destination Singapore. The mo... Continue reading »
-
46
Attack on the Senses
After an extremely long flight we arrived in Calcutta (now officially called Kolkata). We boarded an ambassador taxi and headed straight to Sudde... Continue reading »
-
47
Saved by the Sarees
From Kolkata we cheated a little and took a flight down to Chennai. You probably know Chennai better as Madras, we now know it as one of the filt... Continue reading »
-
48
Backpacker's Retreat
We caught a local government bus to our next destination Mamallapuram which only took 2 hours from Chennai. Mamallapurum is a small beachside tow... Continue reading »
-
49
Spiritual Guidance
From Mamallapuram we took a local bus 2 hours south to Pondicherry, the coastal city renowned for its Ashrams - places of "spiritual learning" th... Continue reading »
-
50
Keralan Cooking
Our time on the east coast of India wasn't working out too well so we decided to head west, to the state of Kerala - known for it's high literacy... Continue reading »
-
51
Plucking Tea
Next up we headed to Munnar, an area famous for its tea estates. We decided to book a three day tour complete with a driver/guide and it was worth... Continue reading »
-
52
Village Life
Our next stop was a couple of hours south of Kochi at the backwater hub town of Alleppey, where most tourists head to arrange either a houseboat... Continue reading »
-
53
Christmas on the Beach
Next up was Varkala, a beach town in the southern state of Kerala. As we would be spending Christmas here we decided to splurge (by Indian standard... Continue reading »
-
54
Rambling in Ooty
After almost 3 weeks in the state of Kerala it was sadly time to move on. It was also time for our first experience of Indian railways as we boar... Continue reading »
-
55
Two Cities in One Day
We caught an afternoon bus from Ooty to Mysore which took us 6 hours. Our bus ride was very bumpy indeed as it took us through a national park wh... Continue reading »
-
56
Hampi New Year
We arrived into Hospet, the nearest train station to Hampi, and were immediately greeted by a swarm of rickshaw drivers eager to rip us off. Afte... Continue reading »
-
57
An Easy India
Our next destination was Goa. Many people assume that Goa is just one small area or one beach but it is in fact an entire state of India with man... Continue reading »
-
58
The Bollywood Experience
We caught an overnight train from Goa to Mumbai arriving at the now infamous CST train station. We hurried through the station to escape the tout... Continue reading »59Cooking with Vijay
We headed north from Mumbai on a 20 hour night bus making first use of the Indian sleeper bus - a small enclosed cabin that you can lie down... Continue reading »60Atmospheric Alleyways
We caught an overnight bus from Udaipur to Jodhpur arriving very early in the morning after only a few hours sleep. Our first impressions of this p... Continue reading »
61Camel Boys
From Jodhpur we took an early morning coach for 5 hours to Jaisalmer, our furthest point west in India and only 75km from the Pakistani border. T... Continue reading »62Swarmed by Rickshaws
After yet another overnight train we found ourselves in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. We soon learned that prices here for rooms are much mor... Continue reading »63What a Wonder
Agra... it's not a nice place... go see the Taj Mahal and get out of there as quickly as possible. At least that's what we were told by many peop... Continue reading »64Touts, Beggars and Burning Bodies
From Agra we caught yet another overnight train to Varanasi, the so called 'Holy City'. Our wait at Agra station was quite interesting. Th... Continue reading »65High Tea in the Mountains
Our journey to Darjeeling was a long one. We started with a night train from Varanasi where we waited on the platform with the homeless, the rat... Continue reading »66Market Madness
One more night train to go in India, 32 hours this time spanning three days. This one involved two nights in sleeper class as we travelled across t... Continue reading »
67A Golden Experience
Finally we arrived into Amritsar in the northern state of Punjab, our last place in India to see before returning to Delhi for our flight to Bang... Continue reading »68Two Days in Thailand
69Tranquility in the Capital
Next morning we arrived at the Thai border town of Nong Khai from where we would cross into Laos. A tuk-tuk from the train station took us to the... Continue reading »70Posers Paradise
From Vientiane we headed north in an "air-conditioned" sweat box of a bus. Luckily we only had to endure this for a little over 3 hours and by lu... Continue reading »71Riding the Elephants
We caught a bus from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang and what a pleasant change!!! After the usual frantic search for a hotel we settled on a brand s... Continue reading »72Village Trekking
Our last stop in Laos was the mountainous north, full of interesting villages and tribes. We headed out of Luang Prabang on a 3 hour mini-van tri... Continue reading »73Joined by the Barkers
We arrived into Hanoi's airport and immediately headed off to the train station in the hope of getting a sleeper berth for the night train t... Continue reading »74Hectic Streets of Ha Noi
From Hoi An the four of us caught a night train to Ha Noi. We arrived incredibly early so Steve and I waited by the lake whilst Mum and Gary went... Continue reading »75Buy from Me
Lao Cai train station at six in the morning. The place for us, and indeed the rest of the train, to disembark and head for the hills. We had just... Continue reading »76Hot Springs and Hotpot
We expected difficulties as we crossed into China, some strict interrogation and a full bag search at the very least. What we got was an easy pas... Continue reading »77Our New Friend the Phrase Book
Next up we headed to the ethnic minority province of Guizhou. From Kunming we caught an overnight train to Guiyang and then a 3 hour bus to Kaili... Continue reading »78A Modern Day Ancient Village
Our second ethnic minority visit was to the Miao village of Xijiang, an hours bus journey from Kaili. The journey there took us past many smaller... Continue reading »79Creature Comforts
Next up we headed to Dali, an area known as a welcoming retreat for backpackers. Our journey here involved returning to Kunming on a night train an... Continue reading »
80Crashing the Chinese Party
With Dali under our belts the next step was a 5 hour minibus journey taking us further north to reputedly China's number one tourist destination.... Continue reading »81Tea in the Park
Our next destination was Chengdu, a large but colourful city. We had both been here previously but wanted more time to discover the rest of the pla... Continue reading »
82Brilliantly Blue
Next up on our itinerary was Jiuzhaigou, a town famous for its world heritage listed national park and deservedly so. Our journey here involved a l... Continue reading »
83Stopped in Our Tracks
Our next destination was Songpan, where we would organise a horse trek into the mountains, get our visas renewed, and head further north into the... Continue reading »84Where East Meets West
One day left on our Chinese visa. Time to get to Hong Kong, the cheap way. A two hour flight took us from Chengdu to Shenzhen from where we would... Continue reading »85Shopping in Shanghai
We spent our first day checking out the worthy Shanghai museum which included interesting displays of Jade, coins, paintings, calligraphy, se... Continue reading »86Here Come the Brides
From Shanghai we took a night train (our last on this whole trip) northward to the port city of Qingdao. Best known as the home of Tsingtao beer... Continue reading »87Roast Duck and Dumplings
Our final stop in China was the capital, Beijing. We had both been here before and seen all the star attractions so this time we chose to relax a... Continue reading »88A Hundred Pounds for a Mango!
Well who can believe it we’ve finally arrived in Japan and after 11 months on the road this is sadly our final destination... Continue reading »
89The Past and the Present
Amelia & Matt
on
Jun. 18, 2008 @ 06:36AM said
HapPy 28th BiRTHday SHAnnNYn!! hAVE A woNDERful WeEk mIIS yOU! Love Mills & Matt xxxx
SERENDIPITY
on
Jun. 18, 2008 @ 06:36AM said
Can't wait for you to return but im soo happy for you all the same...
man u are ace
on
Jun. 18, 2008 @ 06:36AM said
Not sure if you get this guys but if you do Happy Christmas to you both Love Stuey xWould you like to comment or ask a question?
Copyright © 2005-2009 Real Travel, Inc.
All rights reserved.
| RealTravelpc b p1