We have wheels!

No, this is not Pimp My Ride, it's our latest purchase!


The journey starts here. It's actually an old 8 seater people carrier but we got a good price for it, then we had the seats taken out and will begin fitting it just as soon as we find some cheap camping gear. We're in Sydney until Friday so if we can get enough stuff in it to get us moving, we'll probably begin the next leg of our trip which will begin with a drive over to the Blue Mountains. Or as far as our beast takes us.

We need a name for it though, any suggestions?

Settling in Sydney

Well, here we are still in Sydney's Kings Cross district. It's a bit grubby here but will do for us for now. We're slowly getting into this whole new lifestyle which is a bit of a shock after the comfortable and easy life back home. Cooking in a small kitchen with 15 other people can be a bit tricky, especially when many of them are German. We haven't really made many friends in the hostel yet because we don't spend too much time there, but we're becoming familiar with a few of the faces and everyone seems quite pleasant. There's one strange lad who controls the TV in the evenings, a load of Germans, some Swedes, Japanese, Irish, Brits and there seems to be a French family living there, as if it's their house, oblivious to the rest of us. Odd.

We're trying to hold back on spending too much at the moment so things have settled down since the trip, but we've had a good walk round the landmarks, trying to find ways of taking photographs that look different to the 6 billion other pictures of the Opera House that everyone's seen already.

On Wednesday we jumped on a ferry and headed over to Taronga zoo. The ferry over there is great, passing the opera house and giving superb views of the whole harbour. We might have seen it on telly countless times but it's still an impressive sight.

The zoo was great. It's built on a hill so we got a cable car up to the top and then worked our way back down to the ferry home. We caught a few shows and demonstrations, feeding the apes and the gorillas including one massive and grumpy arsed silverback. Charlotte got to fulfill a childhood dream by seeing the Koalas, although you couldn't hold them so we'll probably head to one of the sanctuaries to complete that picture.

We spent about 5 hours there so I think we got our money's worth.

Yesterday, we had a slow day to recharge and do some sums and plans for the next few weeks. We've got several options on what kind of transport we'll buy but we've been well equipped with some good advice from various people, so thanks for that! We might buy a local car rather than a 'travellers car' now, as they're quite a bit cheaper and probably haven't been round the country 800 times already.

So we could well end up with a ute. Best find out how to spell it then...

The answer is...

Some good guesses but nobody got that we're actually in Sydney Australia. Oh, we bet you're all kicking yourselves now!

After the excellent hospitality and quick tour of the city from Norbs (a real life Australian man) and Andre (hope I've spelt that right) we've moved into our hostel now. The best word to describe it is cheap. We're just outside Kings Cross, the seediest part of the city, just a short walk from sex shops and other hostels. We're not quite sure why backpacking and sex shops go together yet.

Our plans have changed now - we're probably going to buy a car head down south to Melbourne as it's one of the best times of year to visit. We're going to take our time over it though, and head along the south coast stopping at a few places on the way as it's supposed to be stunning down there. This does mean we'll be in Melbourne for the Grand Prix but that had nothing to do with our plans, obviously. Ahem.

Once we'd checked into the hostel, we had a wander round the gardens that end up at the Opera House, and then stopped for a beer there as the sun was setting. Not a bad way to spend an evening, we'd recommend it.

Today will be a bit more serious, we're going to see how our hostel compares to others and also maybe do a bit of car hunting. The most popular idea seems to be to get an old estate and sling a mattress in the back, then just stop at campsites to save a bit of money. Sounds like heaven.

Guess

See if you can guess where we are now. We'll give you one clue:

Last day in SE Asia

This evening we fly to Sydney, Australia for the next stage of our trip. We're still in Singapore now, just finding ways to kill the hours before we have to head to the airport. Since we last updated the blog, we went with the whole group for a bit of food, a cocktail called the Singapore Sling at the rather posh Raffles Hotel (an essential part of any trip to Singapore), and then out to an outrageously expensive club to finish off.

It was too expensive to get drunk, so we got up early on the following day and found the Hop On bus tour. This is quite a nifty little system, you just pay for a ticket and the buses run on a set route all day. You can just jump off at the sights, then catch another one to continue the route. We popped over to the Botanical Gardens which were quite nice and relaxing compared to the city, and then went back to the hotel to meet up with some others to catch a cable car down to Sentosa Island. This is a tiny island just off the south of Singapore which has been turned into a complete resort, a bit like Disneyworld.

The cable car itself is quite an experience, floating several hundred feet above the port, giving a great view of the city. We went in the middle of a thunderstorm so that made it all the more scary.

Once off the cable cars we saw the massive statue of the Merlion; a half lion, half fish which is the symbol of Singapore. We had a quick look at the man-made beach there which is nice and pretty, and then went to the free musical fountain as it began to get dark. This is a spectacular light show, using holograms projected onto the spray from the fountain. It's more cheesy than you can possibly imagine but the effects are very impressive and well worth seeing.

We caught the cable cars back to Singapore, finished off a bit of booze that we couldn't fit in our bags and had an early night.

Summary

This trip has been superb, we've both loved Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and we've already talked about returning to Thailand to see more of Bangkok and also the jungles of the north and the beaches on the east coast. The Thai people were particularly great, always smiling and friendly, the service almost everywhere is brilliant and you are made to feel welcome in the most unexpected of places.

We've done so much in the last three weeks that it's difficult to choose one, but our highlights have been the jungle-trek, riding the elephants and the speedboat tour of the Phi-Phi Islands.

Again we can't get photos online here so hopefully we'll update when we get to Sydney with a whole load of new ones from the last few days.

Singapore

Hello.

We're now in Singapore, so I'll give a quick update on our trip as this is the last full day of our Bangkok to Singapore experience.

We spent our last day in Kuala Lumpur wandering the shops and markets of KL. This was our first real chance to do some souvenir shopping so we headed for Times Square first, which is a big shopping centre. And to illustrate it's size, it has a rollercoaster inside it.

The goods there were expensive (in malaysian terms) so we headed for Chinatown for the other end of the scale. There's a market called Petaling St. which is a street full of market traders selling watches, jewellery, bags, clothes etc. Time for some bartering.

A Rolex and Gucci watch for about 2 quid each, a Gucci handbag for Charl we got for 8 quid, and there were some other bits and bobs we got for ludicrous prices. We wore our new watches out that evening and when we got back, both were showing different times by about 30 minutes. We suspect this is a design feature of the Rolex; it's so well made and important that it actually runs on it's own time.

KL was a strange city. It was a bit disappointing to see McDonalds and Burger Kings everywhere, and it is heavily commercialised. However, the Petronas Towers are very impressive and worth seeing in the flesh, especially at night. Again, this computer doesn't allow us to upload photos but we will as soon as we can.

We didn't go up the Petronas Towers but we did go up the KL Tower which was also impressive. The view of the city from nearly 400 metres up is a good one. We stayed there to watch the sun go down, and then got a bit of western style food (for a change) at TGI Fridays.

Our next stop was Melaka in Southern Malaysia. It's a historic port and Malaysia's oldest city apparently, so the pace was a bit slower but it was charming and had a lot of character.

We arrived on Valentines day and the hotel we were staying at had two parties. In the downstairs restaurant they had a couples night, and on the roof terrace was a singles night. We went to the couples thing and it was a bit of a rip off. The food was excellent, but there were families and kids in there, and the live singer was just singing whatever he wanted so it was hardly romantic. We abandoned it later on and joined the singles party upstairs, which had become a big jacuzzi hot tub party. We stayed dry and relatively sober but it was fun.

The following day we drifted round the craft shops, chatting to the locals, hearing all the superstition and religion behind the various items. Kev bought a small thing to hang on the wall, which brings prosperity. We're still waiting for the money to come rolling in...

We popped into a Buddhist temple too, as we haven't seen much of that side of things on our travels. It was nice in there, relaxing and friendly. We didn't fancy the restaurant again so ended up in a weird Indian restaurant, where nobody spoke English. We ordered but had no idea what to expect, but it was quite tasty and the Immodium remains in the packet, so that was considered a success.

Yesterday we crossed into Singapore, arriving late afternoon. That gave us enough time to grab a Chinese at the local food court (about 4 quid for two meals and drinks) and then jump in a minibus for the Night Safari. That was excellent. There are no visible fences, it's very cleverly laid out and you end up just a few feet from tigers, rhinos, leapords, hyenes, giraffes etc.

They also had a fruit bat room, which you walked into and try to avoid them landing on your head. They're big buggers, and the same thing is available to watch the flying squirrels, which are even bigger. Seeing one flying over your head is spectacular. Flash photography isn't allowed but we should have some good video thanks to the Nighshot mode.

After walking round for a couple of hours, we saw a cheesy but entertaining live show and then hopped on a tram which took us round the whole zoo.

And that brings us to today, which has been the most exciting day so far. We got up, had some breakfast, put some washing on, went on the internet, put the washing in the drier, and then went back on the Internet!!!!

Tonight's our 'last supper' with the group, so it should be a good one.

We're off to the harbour now to see what's down there.

Kuala Lumpur

We're continuing our trip through Malaysia and today we arrived in Kuala Lumpur but first, a brief round up of what we've done since we last blogged.

Penang was OK but nothing really stood out there compared to where we have been. We walked around George Town city for the day but it was a bit too hot for just wandering.

We shortly jumped back onto a rickety coach and headed for the contrast that is the Cameron Highlands. It's 1500m at it's highest point, so the hot humidity of our trip so far soon gave way to cold nights, rain and mist. It was a bit of a shock and we even had to put on a jumper!

The place we stayed was great, a funny little guest house with some shared bathrooms, some rooms that you had to go through other rooms to get to and a wonderful view of a half built building. We arrived, had a look round and yet more great meal, this time Indian, and an early night for our full day of activities that followed.

This began with a trip to a tea plantation and factory. The Cameron Highlands is essentially one enormous tea making machine, so we had a brew there and set off for a Hindu festival that happened to be on that morning. This was one of those that involved some serious self-mutilation in the name of removing evil spirits (apparently), specifically a man and woman jabbing a bloody great skewer through their cheeks. One of the girls in our group fainted and the rest of us watched it all in amazement (and Kev got some very gruesome video).

Once they've got this 10 foot pole hanging out their mouth, they have 3 hours before all the drugs, hypnosis and god knows what else wears off to get to the temple to have it all removed and presumably a few stitches. It was a memorable morning.

After stopping for a brief lunch break, we set off into the jungle for a bit of trekking but stopped on the way to look at and hold a variety of creatures, from beetles to snakes, butterflies to millipedes. Charl also fought back the fear to hold a stick (leaf?) insect - it looks like a leaf but honestly it was alive and moving...

We arrived in the jungle for a good 90 minute trek to see this rare flower that only grows once every 4 years and only lives for a few weeks. Very nice, but the rewarding part was getting there and back - crossing rivers, climbing up and down muddy hills, avoiding falling bamboo etc. Charl hasn't done anything like it before, but was first behind the guide on the way back with everyone else trying to keep up! A rewarding day.

An early start this morning and a long bus journey led us here, to the capital of Malaysia. The sight of MacDonalds, KFC, Burger King and Starbucks on our way in did not bode well. There isn't much trace of authenticity to the place which denies it some soul. Nevertheless, we were going to go up the KL Tower this evening but it was foggy, so we'll do it tomorrow. It's an impressive structure, and the Petronas Towers aren't too shabby either.

Added photos to this post and below!

That's it for us so far, speak to you soon!

South Thailand and Malaysia

We arrived in Malaysia today and while we're digesting a rather nice Chinese meal, we thought we'd give a bit of an update from the past few days. We went elephant trekking shortly after our last update. The setting was just outside of Ao Nang, right in amongst a jungle backdrop, at the foot of a sheer mountain side. We went in groups of two, stepping barefoot on to the hairy back of the elephants before settling into the seats and holding on tight.

The trek took us through a small stream, through the jungle with monkeys jumping about over our heads. They stopped and allowed some people to drive, which Kev declined at first but then later decided to do. They don't take much driving to be honest, just tickle their head and it turns, then shout at them until they move. Ours - Baan Ban - was a bit stubborn but we made it back to camp.

After getting off the elephants we got the opportunity to feed them, and then they let us take photos as the elephants bathed themselves. Great stuff and we got some good pics from the day but this internet cafe has the PCs locked so we can't upload them just yet unfortunately.

That evening, we ended up at a half-moon party on the beach, with fire dancers and several beers so in the morning, as a hangover cure, we went for a massage. Kev had the full Thai massage and Charlotte a foot massage, both for an hour. The full Thai basically consists of a little Thai lady beating you to death in various ways, the foot is slapping and punching your legs. Despite that, they were both extremely nice.

That afternoon it was a long coach ride to an overnight stop in Satun, which was a bit of a grubby little place. Most of us in the tour group managed to invade and possibly destroy a Thai karaoke night to entertain ourselves.

This morning it was back on a coach first thing to cross the Thai-Malaysia border and head down to Penang, a small island state just off the west coast linked to the mainland by a fairly spectacular bridge. We checked-in to the hotel and then set off for Penang hill, first attempting to use the local buses but only getting as far as the bus station round the corner, and then jumping into a taxi. Penang hill is the highest point on the island, some 800m above sea level, so the views are spectacular. To get there you take a near vertical cable train. The aim was to watch the sunset but we couldn't get to the west side of the hill, so had to make do with some monkeys messing about in the trees instead.

After coming back down a little disappointed, we found this great little Chinese restaurant and that's where we are right now. Tonight it's back to George Town where we're staying, and possibly to a bar or two. The group is heading to one called Slippery Sinoritas which sounds... err... nice.

One more thing, we've been meaning to mention that Charl feels rather tall over this side of the world.

We'll get photos up asap. Bye!

PS) Keep the comments coming, we're missing you all!

Krabi

Hello world.

We're now in the Krabi Province in a town called Ao Nang. It's quite beautiful here, although a little bit touristy and has vibes of a Greek island, albeit more tropical and the sea is warm. We arrived here on Saturday after our overnight train journey from Nakom Phatom. That was an experience, it's not easy sleeping on a noisy, moving train so we didn't get a lot of kip. We arrived after 11 hours in a town called Surathani where crossing the road had to be done with a local guide because there could be trouble from the locals otherwise. Odd.

We had a bit of breakfast there and then jumped on a coach to head down to our current location. After a brief introduction to the place by Erkan - our tour leader - a few of us jumped on a longtail boat for a short hop round to another beach where we spent that afternoon bobbing about in the sea, being stung by some unseen creatures in the water. We survived that, and grabbed another Longtail back to Ao Nang before meeting up with the rest of the team and heading out to a seafood restaurant. Neither of us like fish, but we picked our tuna and after about 15 hours wait, they brought the food out. The service here is shockingly slow but for some reason you just don't mind.

The whole group then headed out into Ao Nang for a few beers and G&Ts. Those still left at the end (male and female) finished up in a street which was lined with tiny bars, with dancing girls, he-shes and relatively cheap booze. The evening ended with a tuk-tuk race with half the group on one, and half on the other as we scoured the town looking for an open bar. Tremendous fun.

For the following day the whole group had booked a cruise round to the Phi-phi islands, so a 7.30am start on Sunday saw us heading bleary-eyed down to a couple of waiting speedboats. Charlotte's belly wasn't really in the mood for this, so she spent the morning fighting sea-sickness. We did a bit of snorkelling amongst the millions of clown fish and various other sea-creatures then stopped at Maya Bay - the location for the film The Beach. This was where Charlotte decided to deposit the previous evening's drinks, which will make that film all the more interesting from now on.

Then back on the boat to another of the small island resorts called Phi-Phi Don for a buffet lunch, then a bit more snorkelling and then finally ending on a tiny and deserted place called Bamboo island. A few of the group and us did a bit of exploring with one of the boat crew, and saw some of the consequences of the Tsunami. Ao Nang itself was hit pretty bad (there are some spectacular photos on the walls here) but all this area suffered. Bits of boat and even clothing were still scattered across parts of the beaches.

After an hour or so there, it was back on the speedboat for a direct route home across some very entertaining open seas, chucking the boat all over the place. Thankfully, Charl's stomach had recovered by then so there were no more deposits.

Last night, we left the main group and had a simple Italian meal, which was our worst meal here so far, and then had an early night to catch up on sleep. It's tiring, all this travelling you know.

This afternoon we're off elephant-trekking. At one point we're allowed to swim with them but they do have a habit of taking a dump in the water, so we'll see about that...

Down South

Hello world. This will have to be quite brief as the internet connection here in Nakom Phatom (rough guess at the city we're in) is rubbish. Anyway, we arrived at the hotel yesterday with no problems. We took the canal taxi which was quite thrilling, and a bit insane but it cost us about 15p to cross the entire city, so we didn't complain. A local lad who spoke a bit of english helped us out and told us where to get off, and then another local helped lift our bags off the boat. Friendly lot these Thais.

We met up with the group which consists of 18 people altogether, plus a guide who in our case is a Turkish fella. The tour is very well organised and they're looking after us well. Today, we got up at 6.30 to drive down to Katchanaburi the bridge over the river kwai, then drove for a while before taking an hour and a half train journey back along the death railway. The train was quite hot and dirty, and at first we were stood in the doorway with the doors open, looking down at the river Kwai below. Incidentally, it's pronounced kway, don't you know.

After that it was back in the minibus to get to our current location, and we've just stopped to have a look round a big market, have a look at a big old buddha and then get a bit of noodles for tea. In about half an hour we depart for our 13 hour train journey down to the next stop.

Also, from now on you can also access our blog at the following web address: http://blog.durbster.co.uk

A little exploring in Bangkok

For our second day in Bangkok we decided to look a bit further afield and so took the Skytrain over to Sukhumvit. The skytrain is pretty good, simple to use, clean and prompt. Unfortunately it doesn't go where we need to be today so we're intending to look at the canal taxis and have a trip over to the Khao San Road area where our next hotel is.

Sukhumvit wasn't a lot different from here but we did find a nice park and sat for a while watching the terrapins popping their heads above the lake and disappearing again. We're weren't surprised as it was still very hot and humid.

The street traders were still there in abundance, there seem to be more people here selling things than could possibly buy and there isn't much you can't get. The purses, watches and DVDs here are particularly cheap, we sometimes wonder if they're genuine. They must be...

Due to an intended restaurant not actually existing, we ended up back at the hotel for food last night which turned out to be a bit expensive, almost 5 quid for a 3 course meal. Shocking. Sarcasm aside, considering you can eat a full meal for about 60p we still feel a bit ripped off.

Today we'll check out of our posh hotel and begin the organised trip down the Singapore. Tonight is in Bangkok still, and then it's to a floating market tomorrow before getting on a night train over to the bridge over the river Kwai. We suspect our accomodation will be on a downhill slide from now on so it'll be lizard/insect and mosquito dodging from tomorrow onwards. We've no idea when we'll be able to get on the net again but it shouldn't be more than a few days.

Kev needs to wash his pants soon as he's running out. Charlotte brought enough for the year.

Ta ta for now.