The Shadow of the Bat
In and around World
We are setting off to see the world. What an adventure! We plan to
travel up through South East Asia to China and then head to Europe via
the trans-siberian railway which takes us to Moscow. After spending a
couple of months working in the UK we will be heading bac to Australia
via Africa and South America and then plan to take a van and see the
whole of Australia with our two cats.
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Batstar
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1
Jetlag and a Wonderful City
We finally took off from Melbourne at around 5pm on 12 September 2006, flying with Austrian Airlines. We won't talk about the flight as it wasn't v... Continue reading »
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2
White Chicks and Green Diarrhoea
The day started with bright green diarrhoea but the best was yet to come. My first experience of jet lag! Heavy headed, another 3 to 4 hours sleep... Continue reading »
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3
Moving on to Melaka
Waking bright and early at around 7:30am (again!), we figured that rather than lazing the morning in bed, we would do the sensible thing and ventur... Continue reading »
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4
You've got a python where?
I know you are all dying to know what myself and my mirror image, Aussie mate Mark, got up too. Well, bad luck! What happens on tour stays on tour!... Continue reading »
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5
Chinatown by day...and by night!!
Waking early, I spent a few hours pottering around the hostel whilst waiting for Brett to rise from his pit.
By 10:30am, we had set off into... Continue reading »
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6
Wee! We're Off To Kuala Lumpur
After 3 wonderful days in Melaka, we set off for Kuala Lumpur (or K.L to us travellers). Excitement filled us once more as we moved on to another s... Continue reading »
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7
Going Up To the Highlands
Waking up in our dank little pit, I checked the time. A quick glance at my watch told me it was 7:30am. I settled down to read leaving Brett to sle... Continue reading »
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8
The Jungle Boogie and a cup of tea.
Morning breaks once again in this sleepy little mountain town. A decision of what should be done with this glorious day will find us on our fi... Continue reading »
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9
Fore! Oh. Sod It!
I woke a bit later than usual but only to find I had a head full of snot. It seems that the fresh air up here has brought on a cold that the crappy... Continue reading »
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10
110kg of Dehydration
As our eyes and ears adjusted from our heavy slumber, we were awakened to another beautiful day in the Cameron Highlands. Breakfast was freshly mad... Continue reading »
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11
A Fond Farewell to the Highlands and a Grump Greeting to Penang
Slumbering peacefully in bed, we were awoken to a knock on the door. "Are you 2 up? It's 11:40am," Jim and Michelle asked. God damn it! Why d... Continue reading »
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12
Snakes, Lizards and You're Kissing What?
I would love to tell you just how wonderful Georgetown, Penang was but it would be nothing short of a lie, my loyal readers. The place is what woul... Continue reading »
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13
Thailand, Wonderful, Thailand. Where are you?
After a very bad nights sleep, we managed to be ready for our 5am mini-bus and a 12 hour trip to the island of Koh Samui, off the east coast of Tha... Continue reading »
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14
Stress - We don't know what you're talking about!!
I awoke to Ness saying, "I've been to the beach. It takes less than 2 minutes!" Normally in 'chick speak' (lady talk) this would mean 1/2 hour to s... Continue reading »
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15
I Want to Ride my Bicycle, I Want to Ride My Bike!
The two of us had had a very restless night and I woke up feeling even more tired than when I went to bed. Still, not wanting to lie in bed in such... Continue reading »
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16
The Day of the Gecko
It was to be a boy's day out. Jim and I hit the bikes for a day of cruising, whilst the girls stayed in for the day at the resort. Taking the first... Continue reading »
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17
Another Day in Paradise
I would love to tell you all what a thrilling and adventure packed day we had. but sadly for you, this was not the case. Don't think that means we... Continue reading »
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18
Fireworks, Cocktails and 2 Annoyed Germans!
I could regale you true fans with tales of adventure, filled with laughter, tears and drama, the likes of which you will never truly grasp. But I w... Continue reading »
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19
The Hum-drum of a Beach Life
Well, I could write pages telling you, again, how fantastic Koh Samui is, but I feel you may be getting a bit tired of that.
Today was spent... Continue reading »
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20
Water Cascading Down a Rockface - it must be our first waterfall (in Koh Samui)
I'm guessing from the title, that you are already aware of what we did on this day. A quick ride on the moped had us up at the Namuang waterfa... Continue reading »
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21
Buddhism- The Religion that Got it Right
Today was spent as another sight seeing day. After a quick trip to the internet cafe to see if there were any new comments on the journal, (sadly n... Continue reading »
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22
Training of the Water Buffalo, an Evening Walk and the Best is Where we are
Another lazy day frolicking in the warm sea, sun soaking our browning skins, we chose today to do nothing but relax. Books read, naps taken, night... Continue reading »
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23
Lunch With the Locals
After 2 days of strenuous sightseeing, Brett and I both thought that another day of lazing around was in order. After breakfast, (fresh fruit and h... Continue reading »
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24
Untitled (cos if it's good enough for the bands, it's good enough for us!)
A morning swim to clear the cobwebs from my mind, (or more so the tequila) had me back on top of the game. A quick trip into town to re-stock... Continue reading »
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25
Happy Hours in Paradise
We awoke this morning without our usual happiness and spring in our step. Today was to be our final full day at Home Bay and on Koh Samui. Tomorrow... Continue reading »
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26
Heart Broken but A New Adventure Awaits
Waking on our last morning in Koh Samui, we had heavy hearts knowing that not only are we leaving our bungalow, (our home away from home) but we al... Continue reading »
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27
Bangkok- Another Big City! Will We Survive?
I awoke quite early adter a reasonable night. (The sleep had done me good, but I had felt very lonely without Brett beside me to cuddle up to. Neve... Continue reading »
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28
Yes. Yes. I Do Have Dreadlocks!
Waking today, I truely felt like a world weary traveller. Without rhyme or reason, emotion hung thickly over my head. Mum, Charlie, Lou, Ant, Em, (... Continue reading »
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29
Moving on - But Only Round the Corner
We arose bright and early today, eager to depart the Bella Bella House and their awful staff. Havinng found the Wild Orchid Villa just round the co... Continue reading »
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30
Happy Birthday To Ya!!
Arising once again from our slumber after another night in Bangkok, we prepared ourselves for breakfast with our new mates Brigitta, Philip and you... Continue reading »
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31
Not Much!!!!
Drinking until 7:30am had us, or more so me, in bed for the best part of the day. Arising at 3:30pm, I showered and headed down to find Ness, Rach... Continue reading »
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32
Cambodia - A Land Reeking of Corruption
You may think from our title that there is something wrong with us. "Go to Cambodia. It's fantastic!" Quite frankly, both of us strongly disagree.<... Continue reading »
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33
So What's Next Cambodia?
Arising after our first decent rest since arriving in this god-forsaken place of Siem Reap in Cambodia, we got our goods together and headed for th... Continue reading »
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34
Oh No! We Seem to Be Enjoying Ourselves!
Waking early and feeling slightly peckish, we left our hostel to grab some food at 'Mama's', a cafe run by a wonderful Cambodian woman and her fami... Continue reading »
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35
Yes.....We'll Take It!
The heat woke us up at about 8ish and feeling slightly under the weather, we headed to 'Mama's' for breakfast with coffee and fruit shakes. Sitting... Continue reading »
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36
Sightseeing in Style
Waking up after a wonderful nights sleep in our ne apartment, we showered and got ready to go out, before heading off to 'Mama's' for breakfast. We... Continue reading »
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37
What Travellers We Are!!!
A good win at poker accompanied by copious amounts of cheap drinks at 'The Magic Sponge' on the previous night, our day was to be spent lazing arou... Continue reading »
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38
Not As We Expected!
Waking and not finding Ness next to me, I headed out to the living area to find my girl goobing around. When I asked if she was ok, she told me she... Continue reading »
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39
The Sobering Sights of Cambodia
After recovering from yesterday's mishap, we dedided that today would be spent learning and understanding about Cambodia's awful past under the lea... Continue reading »
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40
Conclusions of Cambodia
Our last 4 days in Cambodia were pretty much spent doing as little as possible. Having done all of our sight seeing in Phnom Penh, there was nothin... Continue reading »
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41
Insert exciting name here!!
Our driver was there to pick us up at our desired time of 7am for our bus/boat ride to Chau Doc, Vietnam. Another country and a new experience on o... Continue reading »
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42
The Heat is On In Saigon
The two of us were awake very early this morning because a) my nose is full of snot making it very difficult to lie down and b) our hostel has to b... Continue reading »
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43
Saigon - Beautiful, I'm Sure
Waking with crusty eyes, a nose full of thick snot and the start of a chest infection, the idea of going into a smoggy Saigon was about as inviting... Continue reading »
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44
Up and At 'em and Back on Track
Waking the next morning after a pretty good nights sleep, Brett's cold had cleared a bit and he was eager to leave the hostel room. After showering... Continue reading »
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45
Who Woulda Thunk It? HUNGOVER AGAIN!
Well, today we were to head out and see Saigon's sights after a few days of us both being crook, but it would seem that ONE of the drinks last nigh... Continue reading »
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46
Oh We Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside!
We finally arrived at our desination of Nha Trang on the coast of Vietnam at 7am after an uncomfortable 11 hour journey from Saigon. We were droppe... Continue reading »
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47
So Nha Trang, Whatta You Got To See?
For once, we were up bright eyed and bushy tailed, thanks to our next door neightbours, a young Vietnamese couple sitting on their bed, door wide o... Continue reading »
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48
A Fantastic Day....With a Crappy Ending!
Today, we were woken up by the sound of our alarm clock going off at 8am, telling us to get out of bed. We had booked to go on a day trip island ho... Continue reading »
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49
I'll Have Mine With Mud!
Guess what? Just for a change, we woke up and showered. Cool, huh? But really though, today would be spent reclining in mud baths, taking mineral s... Continue reading »
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50
L, M and K. Where for art thou?
So, we are still trying to get sme sleep on our 10 hour bus journey. How we longed for our quiet coach to Nha Trang when we were able to lay down a... Continue reading »
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51
On Our Own Again. (All By Ourselves)
Breakfast - Not funny. Breakfast with friends - Funny! Sitting for breakfast with Big K, Leila and the Mel-star, we indulged ourselves in the fines... Continue reading »
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52
It's Raining, It's Pouring....
Yes, everybody. It's still raining. Infact, it hasn't stopped raining since it started yesterday afternoon! Any plans to do anything at all were ch... Continue reading »
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53
200,000 Dong on Beer and Food
Waking late, we knew today would be a lazy day, so expectations were low and, for once, my lovely girl didn't have the day's itinerary set out in m... Continue reading »
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54
Choo Choo! Chugging Along To ANOTHER New Place
After a heavy night on the booze, we awoke around mid morning ready to face an 18 hour train journey to the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Great! Ano... Continue reading »
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55
Oh, How I Love A Big City!!!
Sometimes, (not often) I wish I could stand at an average height and blend in (as much as that's impossible in SE Asia) because as soon as our trai... Continue reading »
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56
Sailing Around The Bay
Today, we were woken up at the crack of dawn with the alarm going off telling us that if we didn't get up then we would miss our bus to take us to... Continue reading »
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57
She Must Be Faking It
With the smell of diesel fuel exhaust filling our cabin, we now had the incentive to get up at 6:30am after a massive night of the juice, to shower... Continue reading »
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58
Vietnam. Beautiful One Day, Shithouse The Next!
Awaking at 6:15am, (yes, really!) to pack, shower and have breakfast, the group of zombies soon clambered aboard our bus to go to the boat to head... Continue reading »
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59
No, No! You Just Can't Do This!
Pushed to the edge of breaking, being awoken to the sounds of hammers, drills and angle grinders was more than I could take. This backwards country... Continue reading »
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60
Where for art, Laos?
Waking up hungry, we couldn't be bothered walking all the way to Songanh Cafe as we had been doing, so we settled for the first place we could find... Continue reading »
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61
Flying Off To New Beginnings
We slept quite late and I left Brett enjoying a longer rest while I caught up with the journal. Check out was at 12pm so, after waking my lovely ma... Continue reading »
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62
Fried Food and Heavy Bellies
Starting the day at the Blue Sky Restaurant, we indulged in a hearty breakfast. This quaint, little cafe puts together a fine breakfast with Laos c... Continue reading »
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63
Kicking Back to Another Day of Doing Nothing
Waking late and feeling incredibly relaxed, we both decided that today was going to be another day of doing nothing. After showering, we decided to... Continue reading »
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64
Laos. Surely the Most Chilled Out Place on Earth
We awoke feeling pretty worse for wear later than we had decided. After discovering that our China visa process wouldn't be able to start until Mon... Continue reading »
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65
So, We'll Just Move In Then
When you're travelling, there are times when you meet people that you just know are going to be friends for life. Enter the staff from Jeska's Bar,... Continue reading »
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66
Floating Down The River In Our Rings
Waking up, we felt a little bit hungover but ready to face another tough day in this great town. Today, we planned to experience the main reas... Continue reading »
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67
No, You Can't Make Us Drink Here All The Time!
Eli, Kat B and Jason left for Vientiane, leaving us with their other employee. All I will say is this guy wears pink singlets and looks like a Ken... Continue reading »
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68
Arr! A Pirates Life For Me
Today was to be a big day. Brett's birthday is 25th November, so we were organising a bash at Jeska's to celebrate with a theme of pirates. However... Continue reading »
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69
My Birthday
I would love to give you all a detailed account of this day, but we are in Laos and neither of us can remember anything except for I had the greate... Continue reading »
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70
OK. So What Shall We Do Next? I Know!!
After a few days of heavy drinking, we figured that maybe we should give our livers a break. Well, that was the plan anyway. After finally getting... Continue reading »
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71
BB Guns And Just Where To Shoot Them
Today we will be promoting Jeska's Bar by hitting every other bar in town and stealing their clientelle. Or so we thought. The local tuk-tuk driver... Continue reading »
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72
What's This? Hours Of Daylight Without Alcohol?
Waking around 10am, I left my handsome boy sleeping while I went and grabbed some breakfast from the cafe at Pan's Place. (Ahh, Western food cooked... Continue reading »
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73
All In A Hard Days Work
Waking late, the decision to play BB gun wars with the boys at the bar was quite an easy one, given the amount to do here in Laos. With the drinks... Continue reading »
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74
Doing It Tough....Laos Style
After waking fairly early and spending a few hours on the net, I exhausted what little energy I had left in my system after hitting it hard for so... Continue reading »
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75
Brett needs to think of a title
Our avid and adoring readers of Batstar. As was the case in Koh Samui, much time is passing here in Vang Vieng without much detail being given over... Continue reading »
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76
Another Day Spent In the Sun On the Nam Song
Today, we had been informed, was to be spent out tubing again, as we had not yet been with Eli and Kat and we were fast running out of days. Althou... Continue reading »
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77
Parental Guidance Has Its Revenge
Awaking late after a BIG night at the island bars, the effects of Vang Vieng's hospitality had taken its toll with, what I can only describe, as wa... Continue reading »
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78
Final Hours In Vang Vieng
We awoke this morning to our final hours in Vang Vieng. I think I can almost hear my liver screaming its excitement at the prospect of a well-earne... Continue reading »
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79
Must We Leave? (What's That Liver? We Must.)
After a relatively quiet night on my behalf, (I swear Ness is addicted to these buckets!) we were ready to take our leave of Vang Vieng after 2 mar... Continue reading »
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80
Cascading Water, Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
Waking up to our first full day in Luang Prabang, we were both feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to see what this pretty, little town... Continue reading »
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81
Elephants and Rapids
Today, Brett had decided that he wanted to have a day of relaxation, so Boston Steve and myself (who were feeling a little more awake and up for so... Continue reading »
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82
Oh Laos! Where Have You Gone?
After the night's adventures with the mega bitch and her weakling family, who's guesthouse I was quite willing to destroy, we awoke to the sound of... Continue reading »
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83
What Do You Mean, We're Still Going?
After a half decent sleep in the sardine can, we groggily got our heads together and watched Laos go by until the Laos/China border came upon us. W... Continue reading »
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84
Finally! We've Arrived!
As the night drew on and we still didn't arrive in Kunming, we began to wonder what the hell was happening. We slept fitfully, but always in the ba... Continue reading »
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85
Is Brett Smiling In a City?
I love China! I seriously can not believe the difference between one sigle border! Apart from the stares at an obviously very, very different person,... Continue reading » -
86
Still Travelling and Still Happy!!
Waking up after a VERY comfortable night sleep in our luxury carriage, we were soon greeted with the smiling, happy face of a little Chinese girl. Mak... Continue reading » -
87
Chinese Anyone???
Waking aboard our 1st class train, we took breakfast in the dining cart across from Li Chen and family. Talking with Carolyn and Cassian, we chatte... Continue reading »
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88
The Sights and People of Beijing
Waking after a great sleep to our first morning in Beijing, I waved to my lovely boyfriend lying in the other single bed and we took a few moments... Continue reading »
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89
Embassy Stress and Kung Fu
Waking early to head to the Russian embassy, we held high hopes of breezing in and out as we had done with all our other visa's. Showing our passpo... Continue reading »
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90
Hutongs and Peking Duck
Waking up, the prospect of getting out of bed to visit the Forbdden City as we had planned was more than myself or my lovely man could take. Instea... Continue reading »
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91
Wow! The Geat Wall Does a Great Job
Today, we had to be up really early, ready for our 7:30am pickup for the trip to the Great Wall to see all those rabbits. After about 2 hours sleep... Continue reading »
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92
Never Too Sick To Party
With Ness waking with a head full of snot and an attitude to match, it was up to me, my avid readers, to head out in the big city of Beijing alone to... Continue reading » -
93
Nessa In The Sky With Diamonds
Waking feeling a tad better, but still with a head full of snot, we had to go back to the travel agency to collect our Russian Travel Voucher's whi... Continue reading »
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94
White Chicks And Yellow Diarrhoea
The day begins with my fiancee and I dining together on our first day of engagement at the Traveller's Den. We've made mention of the wonderful ser... Continue reading »
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95
You Mean We Can Actually Have a Visa?!
Waking early after nightmare's that we wouldn't be able to get our visa's in time due to embassy Christmas opening hours, I rushed to the internet... Continue reading »
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96
A Taste Of Home (Sort Of)
Having set our alarm, we were up and ready to head to the Mongolian consulate to get our transit visa, a necessary visa to have at a cost even thou... Continue reading »
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97
Preparations For Russia
After 2 days of early mornings, you can imagine our joy when we were woken early due to a German family across the corridor who insisted in doing e... Continue reading »
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98
Not The Planned Christmas Eve
Twas the day before Christmas and whilst the Christmas songs played, Ness and I were enduring another day of Epileptic seizures. Although safe and... Continue reading »
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99
Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
After yesterday's draining day, Christmas morning was very exciting with a trip to the Mongolian embassy to collect our transit visa's for our trip... Continue reading »
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100
The City Should Be Forbidden!
After a reasonably big night, we still managed to get up early as today is our last day in Beijing before our much anticipated trip on the Trans-Si... Continue reading »
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101
What Ho! The Trans-Siberian.....Part 1
Today, we were up bright and early for our 7:40am start on the Trans-Siberian to start our journey to Russia. Having been sensible and packing our... Continue reading »
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102
The Trans-Siberian To Russia, Day 2
I would love to tell you all that our 2nd day on board the Trans-Siberian was more exciting and filled with adventure but, unfortunatly, that would... Continue reading »
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103
Life In Russia......Irkutsk
Arriving at our destination, our first thoughts were, "Geez, it ain't much to look at!" Welcome to Irkutsk, Russia, our first destination on our tr... Continue reading »
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104
So, What Is There To Do Here?
Waking up in our single beds after a pretty poor nights sleep due to the heating being on full whack all night, (The Russians love their heating!)... Continue reading »
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