Round the World Trip 2007-8
In and around World
We plan to visit South America for 4 months then fly out to New Zealand. From there we'll visit and Australia and hopefully work in Oz for a while then see Indonesia, Malaysia and South-East Asia.
Bring it on!!!!!
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Leigh+Mal
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1
Travelling the Coast of Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO
Arrived in Rio to find Mal's luggage hadn't arrived - luckily it turned up next day. First hostel was... Continue reading »
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2
Iguazu Falls, Argentina
We arrived in Puerto Iguazu and decided to treat ourselves to a night in a four-star hotel since it only cost 130 pesos for 2 of us (around 20 quid... Continue reading »
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3
Reserva Esteros del Ibera - Nature Reserve Colonia Pelegrini
We travelled from Iguazu to Posadas and then to Corrientes. Two cities which were nice but not worth staying more than a day or so. The... Continue reading »
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4
Salta, including Cafayate and San Lorenzo
We arrived in Salta at 7am and had to find a hostel. Unfortunately Leigh was ill all day and Mal was worried it was dengue!! Luckily seems li... Continue reading »
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5
Santa Cruz, Bolivia
We got kicked off a bus at 5.30am at the Argentine border and were greeted by an old man with a cart who said for 5 pesos he takes us to the Bolivi... Continue reading »
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6
La Paz, Bolivia
We decided to go to La Paz via Cochabamba in order to see "the real Bolivia". This wasn´t a great idea since it wasn´t the nicest of pl... Continue reading »
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7
Copacabana and Lake Titicaca
We took a tourist bus from La Paz to Copacabana due to the fear of being thrown over a cliff again! The bus took around 3 hours and halfway through... Continue reading »
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8
Puno and Lake Titicaca (Peruvian side)
We arrived in Puno and it was thundering and lightening. Great weather for a boat trip!! Either way the trip was really interesting. The boat... Continue reading »
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9
Cusco, Aguas Calientes & Machu Picchu
Cusco is a really nice city. Unfortunately Mal was ill for 4 days whilst there. We had decided against doing a 5-day hike to Mach... Continue reading »
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10
San Pedro de Atacama & The Geysers del Tatio
San Pedro is a small dusty town which should be called "Backpackers Village" but we were pleasantly surprised as it´s quite nice.
We took a t... Continue reading »
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11
Salar de Uyuni Trip from San Pedro
We enquired about the Salt Lake trip at various agencies and decided to do the trip with Cordillera Travel. We left on the Friday morning and had b... Continue reading »
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12
La Serena, Chile
La Serena is a nice town. Not lots to do within the town other than a really pretty tranquil Japanese garden which is worth a visit.
There is... Continue reading »
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13
Mendoza, Argentina
Its amazing to be back in Argentina!! It is so cheap and the food is excellent!
We had to stay in a hotel initially as hostels were booked bu... Continue reading »
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14
Buenos Aires, The capital of Argentina and land of the Tango!
We spent a week in Buenos Aires and got to know the city pretty well. Its a cool place parts are like New York with sky scrapers and wide tree-line... Continue reading »
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15
Buenos Aires, The capital of Argentina and land of the Tango!
We spent a week in Buenos Aires and got to know the city pretty well. Its a cool place parts are like New York with sky scrapers and wide tree-line... Continue reading »
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16
Colonia, Uruguay
From Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires we took a ferry to Uruguay for the day - for an extra stamp on the passport!
We took the Buquebus fe... Continue reading »
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17
Bariloche, Argentina
You would think that you were in the Swiss Alps rather than Argentina when you arrive in Bariloche. Its full of wood cabins and chocolate sho... Continue reading »
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18
San Martin de los Andes, Argentina
Stayed in the HI affiliate Puma Hostel for one night in the double room at the top of the hostel. It is in a wood cabin style building and is... Continue reading »
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19
Pucon, Chile
We came to Pucon with the intention of doing ....well nothing much. Most people come to climb the volcanoe but with the trips getting constan... Continue reading »
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20
Puerto Varas, lake district, Chile
Puerto Varas is a bit of a nothing town really. It didnt help that we arrived in the rain and had a hostel that was freezing cold and ri... Continue reading »
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21
Punta Arenas, Chile
Punta Arenas was a stop off point for us. From the north all buses go here and we had to fly out of the town to get to Santiago. So alt... Continue reading »
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22
Puerto Natales, Torres del Paine - Chile
We went to stay at a hostel called Niko's Adventure II as we read on the internet they can organise tours to the Torres del Paine National Park.&nb... Continue reading »
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23
El Calafate & The Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina
Returning to Argentina we were expecting the usual cheap steaks and wine and so were disappointed when we arrived to El Calafate as it is just as e... Continue reading »
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24
Ushuaia, The End of the World!
It was difficult to get to Ushuaia as we had to go via Rio Gallegos, a town which has nothing to it on the east coast of Argentina. Due to ti... Continue reading »
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25
Santiago, the capital city of Chile
We had heard several horror stories from other backpackers about Santiago, that the people there hate gringos and travellers often get mugged or at... Continue reading »
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26
Auckland, New Zealand
We took off for New Zealand at around 10.30pm friday night for our 13 hour flight to Auckland. However because of the time difference we didn't l... Continue reading » -
27
Rotorua/Waitomo caves
As we had traveled the whole of South America by public transport and sorting it ourselves we decided to try traveling a different way in New Zeala... Continue reading »
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28
Taupo
We left for Taupo on the bus with the worst driver ever just because i had forgotten to hand in my key deposit and had to go back round the block t... Continue reading »
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29
Wellington
We spent a week in Wellington as we are waiting for Jacko to arrive. At first we were a bit disappointed as Wellington isn't really a "proper" city... Continue reading »
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30
Picton
We set off for the south island on the interislander ferry along with Chris who was also going there. Unfortunately there wasnt much to see as it was... Continue reading » -
31
Christchurch
We stayed in Christchurch for 3 days and met Jacko there. The first night we stayed in a dorm at base backpackers but on the 2nd night we decided to g... Continue reading » -
32
Kaikora
We wanted to stay in Kaikora for 2 nights but has luck would have it there was a sea festival in town so all accommodation was booked up. So we cou... Continue reading »
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33
Nelson/Abel tasmin national park
We stayed at Paradiso hostel in Nelson which was really nice. It had a pool,sauna,spa and 2 t.v rooms. The main thing we wanted to do in Nelson was... Continue reading »
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34
Greymouth
We only stayed in Greymouth for one night as the bus stopped there for the night. The only thing to do really is the brewery tour. Jacko and a few oth... Continue reading » -
35
Franz Josef
Everyone goes to Franz Josef to climb/see the famous glazier. We stayed in a hostel called Chateau Franz which was really cool. It was more like a cha... Continue reading » -
36
Wanaka
Wanaka is a beautiful town perched on the side of a huge lake, it is also set amongst loads of snow capped mountains. The hostel we stayed at had... Continue reading » -
37
Queenstown
Queenstown is the named the adventure capital of New Zealand. Its a nice enough city if not a little touristy. However any plans we had for Queenstown... Continue reading » -
38
Dunedin/Oamaru
Dunedin was just a night stop over for us,but as we got there in the middle of the afternoon we decided to do the Cadbury factory tour. Apparentl... Continue reading » -
39
Lake Tekapo
When we got on the bus at Oamaru Jacko was on there along with everyone else and proceeded to tell us about the bungy jump he did. The scenery on the... Continue reading » -
40
Christchurch part 2
The final stop in New Zealand!! We all went to a sports bar in the afternoon as a send off to Ronald the huge dutchman we knew then me and Malina did... Continue reading » -
41
Melbourne
Our first couple of days were a bit of a nightmare. The hostel we booked had made a mistake and booked us into a dorm rather than a double an... Continue reading »
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42
Yarra Valley & The Dandenongs
Staying in the city for 3 weeks was starting to get to us so we decided to hire a car and head out into the country for the weekend. We went... Continue reading »
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43
Melbourne Part II & Great Ocean Road
My (Mal) last week of working! :-) It was nice to work in Melbourne and experience living in Australia and meeting people from there.&nb... Continue reading »
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44
Coastal Road Melb-Sydney and Sydney!
We hired a car again to travel from Melbourne to Sydney as it seemed to be cheap. However once we paid for petrol it didnt work out to be as... Continue reading »
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45
Nadi/Mana island/Bounty island - FIJI
Fiji started out as a bit of a travel nightmare. We had to get up at 3am and get a taxi to the airport where we flew to Nadi via Brisbane. At... Continue reading »
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46
Sydney
Getting away from Nadi proved to be a bit of a pain in the ass. Because of the "cyclone" a lot of flights had been delayed or canceled altoge... Continue reading »
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47
New Years Eve (Sydney)
NYE was amazing. We all went to an area called mrs Macquaries chair. This is a place inside the botanic gardens in Sydney with a perfect view of Sy... Continue reading »
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48
Byron Bay
Got an overnight bus from Sydney to Byron Bay which saved us some money but was pretty grueling. We arrived in Byron and it was pouring with rai... Continue reading » -
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Noosa/Australia Zoo
Noosa was one of our favourite places in Australia. It is quite touristy but a nice town with a great beach. For once it was lovely and ho... Continue reading » -
50
Hervey Bay/ Fraser Island
We arrived in Hervey Bay and stayed at the Koalas hostel since it was free with the package we had booked. Staying in our dorm were two German girl... Continue reading »
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51
Airlie beach
We were booked into the Koalas hostel as our trip is through them and is quite cheap. However when we got there we weren't allowed to check in for... Continue reading »
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52
Mission Beach
We all went to mission beach for one reason SKYDIVING. When we checked into our hostel late afternoon we were informed that they had a deal w... Continue reading »
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53
Cairns
Last stop on the Premier bus! We had a bit of a nightmare checking in to our hostel as every room we checked into smelt of wet dog, and we ended up... Continue reading »
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54
Darwin
We flew to Darwin from Cairns to spend a few days there before heading to Bali. Originally we were going as we needed to spend a few hours as a sto... Continue reading »
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55
Kuta, Bali
The take off from Darwin was interesting to say the least. It was pouring with rain and the lightening was close behind. After a 2 hour delay... Continue reading »
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56
Ubud
Jacko had met a guy called Neil on the plane and he was on about going to Ubud on a day trip. We wanted to go as well and when we found out y... Continue reading »
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57
Kuala Lumpur
In Kuala Lumpur we were to meet Mal's mam and dad. They were to meet us at the airport but us being us even this simple task came with complication... Continue reading »
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58
Kata, Phuket
We arrived to Kata to find that the room we thought we'd reserved wasn't in fact reserved! Great! So Leigh and I headed off to find somewhere... Continue reading »
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59
Klong Muang and Ao Nang, Krabi
Klong Muang
Yet again we arrived at the bungalows to find our reservation request hadn't been received! However the couple runni... Continue reading »
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60
Phi Phi Islands/ James Bond Island
We did a speed boat trip called the 5 islands tour from Ao Nang. It took us to some gorgeous beaches. Two of the best Were Phi Phi... Continue reading »
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61
Bo Phut / Lamai
Big Buddha Beach
After a day of travelling we arrived at our resort and was pleasantly surprised. It was right on the beach and... Continue reading »
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62
Chaweng
We stayed at a budget resort called Matlang Resort in Chaweng. Very basic bungalows but right on the beach and CHEAP! Jacko was there w... Continue reading »
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63
Koh Phangan
We had a nightmare trying to find accommodation on Koh Phangan. We were told that nowhere takes reservations via telephone leading up to the... Continue reading »
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64
Bangkok
We got the overnight train to Bangkok from Surat Thani from which we had got a bus from the port where we had got a boat f... Continue reading »
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65
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
We were to meet Carl (who we stayed with in Darwin)in Phnom Penh as he was travelling with us from then on and had flew in from Singapore. We... Continue reading »
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66
Siem Reap
We were in Siem Reap for one reason, the reason everyone goes, to see Anchor Wat. This is basically a huge " lost city " of temples that is so big... Continue reading »
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67
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
We didn't arrive in Saigon until around 10pm and had the usual messing about looking for accommodation, when we turned up to find the one we... Continue reading »
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68
Mui Ne
We got an open tour bus to Mui Ne and was well chuffed to get sleeper seats at the back for the entire journey. Initially when we got there w... Continue reading »
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69
Dalat, Vietnam
The journey to Dalat was horrific! Rather than a coach like we usually got around Vietnam they picked us up in a small minibus - which wouldn... Continue reading »
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70
Nha Trang
We turned up to Nha Trang and managed to get into the guesthouse we wanted to (for a change!). It is called Orchid Hotel but has another name... Continue reading »
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71
Hoi An
Tailors Tailors Tailors! Hoi An has thousands of shops where you can get any item of clothing you wish tailor-made for you. You can even have... Continue reading »
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72
Hué
We decided to cut our trip around Vietnam short and rather than travelling all the way up to Hanoi, we decided to make Hué our last stop and to cut... Continue reading »
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73
Savannaket, Laos
We topped off our experiences in Vietnam with the most horrific bus ride yet. To cut a long story short, it was a local bus and not a tourist... Continue reading »
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74
Vientiane ( Capital of Laos )
Arriving at 5am was lots of fun, lol. After getting a lift into town in a jumbo ( a truck thing with benches on the back that acts like a tax... Continue reading »
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75
Vang Vieng, Backpacker Paradise - Laos
We had reserved a guesthouse in Vang Vieng, but when we tried to cross the bridge to get to it we were told we would have to pay 4,000 kip each jus... Continue reading »
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76
Luang Prabang, Laos
The journey from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang was harsh! We were in a coach, but the driver kept turning off the air-con and the guy in front of us... Continue reading »
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77
Pak Beng/Huay Xai - slow boat along Mekong River
To get to Chiang Mai in Thailand, there are 3 options: Bus to Vientiane, then another bus to Chiang Mai, a speedboat up the Mekong River (crash hel... Continue reading »
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78
Chiang Mai, Thailand
After lots of fun in trying to change kip to baht, we eventually got on a bus to Chiang Mai. Another 7 hours of transport but it was bliss to... Continue reading »
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79
Bangkok - Take II
We got a VIP bus from Chiang Mai and got dropped off on the outskirts of Bangkok - noone knew where we were! We jumped in a taxi to the infamous Kh... Continue reading »
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80
Koh Lanta
Getting to Koh Lanta was exhausting to say the least. However 2 buses a mini- bus two ferries and one very awkward travel agency bo... Continue reading »
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81
Back to Bangkok
After we swore we wouldn't get the bus back to Bangkok we ended up having to since the train was fully booked. There was all the usual hangin... Continue reading »
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