Monday, August 10, 2009
Smile like you mean it
Watching somebody do something they have an absolute passion for is truly inspiring. We had the chance at the Elephant Nature Park in Northern Thailand. Her name is Lek Chailert, her cause is great and her commitment even greater; Save the Elephants.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
All around me are familiar faces
Surprise, surprise…my blogging has been less than steady over the past few weeks and I once again find myself behind. For this one I am going to take a piece of advice from Nicole and keep it short and sweet and share the rest with you when I am home in a couple weeks.
Let me start by saying that I love Cambodia, and here are five reasons why:
1. I am a Winnipegger, hence I am cheap. Thankfully Cambodia is one of the cheapest countries we’ve visited and anytime you can buy a pint of beer for 50 cents you know you are in a good place.
See you in Northern Thailand,
kc
Let me start by saying that I love Cambodia, and here are five reasons why:
1. I am a Winnipegger, hence I am cheap. Thankfully Cambodia is one of the cheapest countries we’ve visited and anytime you can buy a pint of beer for 50 cents you know you are in a good place.
2. The natural beauty of Cambodia is sensational. The parts we visited were very prairie-like but instead of wheat fields there were rice fields which were incredible. I think I have actually gained a true appreciation for “flat” ever since I’ve left home.
3. I love food. Cambodian or Khmer food is some of the best we’ve eaten. Without a doubt the week in Cambodia was far and away our most well fed yet. The best part of it all is that the cheaper and grittier the place, the better the food! We got the chance to meet up with Robin and Sara again and we found a great little local hole that fed us like Kings for under 4 bucks each.
4. The Temples of Angkor are completely and utterly awe-inspiring. I knew little to nothing about them before visiting Cambodia but I now believe that they are one of the true wonders of the world and a pure spectacle of engineering and beauty. 
5. I love an underdog, and to me Cambodia is as much an underdog country that is out there. After being absolutely decimated in the late 1970’s by a genocide suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge and the Pol Pot regime, the country although still struggling has bounced back in a big way. Two million people, nearly one third of Cambodia’s population suffered tragic deaths at the hands of the regime but yet thirty years post tragedy the country is in great spirits. Choosing to move on, instead of dwell on the past Cambodians are a very welcoming and high spirited group of people who seem genuinely excited to have you as a visitor in their country and it really is no wonder…it’s a fascinating place. See you in Northern Thailand,
kc
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Gonna rise up, find my direction magnetically
Hello from Cambodia! Mitch and I arrived a few days ago after getting up at 3:00 am to make it to the airport on time. Needless to say, a bit tired.
We have just finished 9 days in Malaysia which were incredible to say the least. 7 of those days were spent in the state of Sabah which is on the island of Borneo. We arrived in Kota Kinabalu (a major hub in Sabah) from Singapore and hit the ground running. We spent the first little while figuring out exactly what we would be doing over the next week while still trying to enjoy KK. Our first day in town was spent at the Tunku Abdul Rahman national park, which is a collection of islands off of the coast of KK. We did some snorkeling and exploring of the island which was a great ice breaker to the country.
Mitch and I mapped out our plans for the next week and actually decided to rent a car to see what we wanted to see. We are both into doing things cost efficiently and this was the best option for us to see what we wanted to see at an affordable price. Looking back we went into it a bit naïve having no idea what the roads or the traffic would be like, throw on top of that the fact they drive on the opposite side of the road, something Mitch has never experienced and it was a bit daunting. Everything worked out great though!
We read about this place called Danum Valley which is home rhinos, elephants and heaps of other jungle animals. We decided that is where we wanted to spend the majority of our time hiking and thrashing through the rainforest. Danum Valley is accessible through the town of Lahad Datu so that was our first stop. We arrived in LD just before the tour companies were closing only to find out that the park was WAY out of our price range. They wanted something like USD$300 for a 2 day 1 night trip and we definitely couldn’t afford that. The agent (who was incredibly helpful) suggested we head to Tawau Hills National Park where we would be able to do some hiking. We spent the night in Lahad Datu which we now refer to as the ghetto of Borneo and made our way to Tawau the next morning.
After asking about every local in the Tawau area how to get there, and getting lost for about 2.5 hours we finally arrived at the park to find out that not only were we the only people spending the night, but we were also the only people IN the national park. We dropped our stuff and headed out on our first hike to a water fall that was about 5.2km round trip. Arriving at the waterfall was one of the most surreal moments of my life, and probably the best moment I have had since leaving Canada in January. I can’t explain it but it was absolutely breathtaking. After having set back after set back and refusing to pay ridiculous prices to see the rainforest I felt like we were truly being rewarded for our persistence to see things our way, and in a way that few will ever get to see.
The following day we headed out for another day of hiking after one of the loudest thunderstorms I have ever heard overnight. The ground was soaked and the leeches were out in full form! We were advised to wear leach socks which are essentially knee high socks made out of canvas. Today we were heading to the hot springs, which required us to cross a couple of rivers which was a lot of fun. The fun sort of stopped when the leech reality set in, they were everywhere. I think between Mitch and I we probably had about 40 or so leeches on every part of our body throughout the course of the day and that number would probably be tripled if it weren’t for the socks. Not an ideal situation but we made the most out of it. The sulphuric hot springs were great and river rapids beside them made for a great massage!
The next day we headed to Sandakan and more specifically the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. We were very lucky and the apes decided to treat us to a pre-feeding show, posing for pictures along with a dozen or so other monkeys. It was an amazing experience and very cool to see. We also made a stop at a crocodile farm which was also quite the experience, unfortunately not for the same reasons. There were probably over 50 crocs there and we saw a croc show which included a guy dancing with a live croc on his back.
We spent the night in Sandakan and headed back to KK the next day. On the way back we stopped at Kinabalu National Park which is home to Mount Kinabalu. The park was beautiful and we did some hiking around the park before heading back into town.
We returned our car and headed by plane to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital.
Kuala Lumpur was a lot like Singapore with a lot more grime. In this particular case grime is a good thing, because Singapore is eerily sterile. We checked out the some of the sights of KL including Little India, Chinatown markets, Merdeka Square and of course the Petronas Twin Towers (which stand as the nicest building(s) I have ever seen, especially when they are lit up at night. On our last night in KL we went to see Manchester United play Malaysia and the national stadium which seats 100,000 people. They had played a game in KL a few days later and were supposed to head to Indonesia for their next game, however due to a terrorist attack in Jakarta the team pulled out and decided to do another game in KL. Mitch nor I are soccer fans in the slightest but it was still incredible to see one of the world’s best teams in action and the passion and enthusiasm the Malays showed towards them.
Our time in Malaysia far exceeded my expectations. There is something about being alone in the rainforest with one of your best friends that is extremely invigorating. We wanted to take the “off the beaten track” approach to travel in Borneo and we definitely experienced it on our own terms. I know this post is long but it just scratches the surface on our time in Borneo, we had an absolute blast and there are plenty more stories that I can’t wait to share.
Cambodia is up to bat, I can’t wait.
Until next time,
kc
We have just finished 9 days in Malaysia which were incredible to say the least. 7 of those days were spent in the state of Sabah which is on the island of Borneo. We arrived in Kota Kinabalu (a major hub in Sabah) from Singapore and hit the ground running. We spent the first little while figuring out exactly what we would be doing over the next week while still trying to enjoy KK. Our first day in town was spent at the Tunku Abdul Rahman national park, which is a collection of islands off of the coast of KK. We did some snorkeling and exploring of the island which was a great ice breaker to the country.
Mitch and I mapped out our plans for the next week and actually decided to rent a car to see what we wanted to see. We are both into doing things cost efficiently and this was the best option for us to see what we wanted to see at an affordable price. Looking back we went into it a bit naïve having no idea what the roads or the traffic would be like, throw on top of that the fact they drive on the opposite side of the road, something Mitch has never experienced and it was a bit daunting. Everything worked out great though!We read about this place called Danum Valley which is home rhinos, elephants and heaps of other jungle animals. We decided that is where we wanted to spend the majority of our time hiking and thrashing through the rainforest. Danum Valley is accessible through the town of Lahad Datu so that was our first stop. We arrived in LD just before the tour companies were closing only to find out that the park was WAY out of our price range. They wanted something like USD$300 for a 2 day 1 night trip and we definitely couldn’t afford that. The agent (who was incredibly helpful) suggested we head to Tawau Hills National Park where we would be able to do some hiking. We spent the night in Lahad Datu which we now refer to as the ghetto of Borneo and made our way to Tawau the next morning.
After asking about every local in the Tawau area how to get there, and getting lost for about 2.5 hours we finally arrived at the park to find out that not only were we the only people spending the night, but we were also the only people IN the national park. We dropped our stuff and headed out on our first hike to a water fall that was about 5.2km round trip. Arriving at the waterfall was one of the most surreal moments of my life, and probably the best moment I have had since leaving Canada in January. I can’t explain it but it was absolutely breathtaking. After having set back after set back and refusing to pay ridiculous prices to see the rainforest I felt like we were truly being rewarded for our persistence to see things our way, and in a way that few will ever get to see.
The following day we headed out for another day of hiking after one of the loudest thunderstorms I have ever heard overnight. The ground was soaked and the leeches were out in full form! We were advised to wear leach socks which are essentially knee high socks made out of canvas. Today we were heading to the hot springs, which required us to cross a couple of rivers which was a lot of fun. The fun sort of stopped when the leech reality set in, they were everywhere. I think between Mitch and I we probably had about 40 or so leeches on every part of our body throughout the course of the day and that number would probably be tripled if it weren’t for the socks. Not an ideal situation but we made the most out of it. The sulphuric hot springs were great and river rapids beside them made for a great massage!
The next day we headed to Sandakan and more specifically the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. We were very lucky and the apes decided to treat us to a pre-feeding show, posing for pictures along with a dozen or so other monkeys. It was an amazing experience and very cool to see. We also made a stop at a crocodile farm which was also quite the experience, unfortunately not for the same reasons. There were probably over 50 crocs there and we saw a croc show which included a guy dancing with a live croc on his back.
We spent the night in Sandakan and headed back to KK the next day. On the way back we stopped at Kinabalu National Park which is home to Mount Kinabalu. The park was beautiful and we did some hiking around the park before heading back into town.
We returned our car and headed by plane to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital.
Kuala Lumpur was a lot like Singapore with a lot more grime. In this particular case grime is a good thing, because Singapore is eerily sterile. We checked out the some of the sights of KL including Little India, Chinatown markets, Merdeka Square and of course the Petronas Twin Towers (which stand as the nicest building(s) I have ever seen, especially when they are lit up at night. On our last night in KL we went to see Manchester United play Malaysia and the national stadium which seats 100,000 people. They had played a game in KL a few days later and were supposed to head to Indonesia for their next game, however due to a terrorist attack in Jakarta the team pulled out and decided to do another game in KL. Mitch nor I are soccer fans in the slightest but it was still incredible to see one of the world’s best teams in action and the passion and enthusiasm the Malays showed towards them.
Our time in Malaysia far exceeded my expectations. There is something about being alone in the rainforest with one of your best friends that is extremely invigorating. We wanted to take the “off the beaten track” approach to travel in Borneo and we definitely experienced it on our own terms. I know this post is long but it just scratches the surface on our time in Borneo, we had an absolute blast and there are plenty more stories that I can’t wait to share.
Cambodia is up to bat, I can’t wait.
Until next time,
kc
Monday, July 13, 2009
I want to break free
Hello dear readers! My apologies for my mysterious disappearance over the last few weeks. I would formally like to blame the Chinese government who have deemed Blogspot unworthy to view by the “People’s” Republic. A true democracy isn’t it?!
Where to begin?...How about China seeing as though that is where I have been hiding the past little while. For those of you who have dreamt up China as a polluted, overcrowded mess of peace signs, you actually aren’t that far off the mark. While it may be bursting with western world stereotypes I almost instantaneously fell in love with the complete and utter chaos that is China. Simply put the country is amazing. There is never a dull moment while the sights and sounds provide for a truly unique and amazing experience.
My time in China began in Beijing after a connection (and breakfast with Eamon) in Hong Kong from Sydney. I was a bit apprehensive about leaving the airport via subway however the system was extremely easy to navigate (thanks in part to the 2008 Olympics I’m sure) and I was able to find my hostel which was located near Tiananmen Square nestled in between an ever changing construction site.
I spent the first full day in Beijing checking out Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen had an extremely powerful feeling however you can’t help but feel that “big brother” is watching you constantly. The Forbidden City was also quite spectacular and extremely massive. It originally housed the Chinese emperor but is now open to the public.
My second day was out at the Great Wall. The hostel I stayed at ran a secret wall tour where we were taken 2.5 hours outside of Beijing to climb a largely untouched, and original part of the wall. We met this old Chinese woman who was very yoda-like and probably in her early 70’s who led us up the mountain and through the wall, all with her cane! It was quite hilarious but absolutely beautiful. There was not another tourist in sight, aside from our group and the wall wrapped around the mountains for as far as the eye could see. You really appreciate what a fascinating feat of engineering and sheer will power the wall is after taking this trek…unlike anything I have ever seen or experienced.
In the first few days in Beijing I got out to the Olympic park where the birds nest was lit up in all its glory at night. It is even more fantastic in real life and the water cube was equally as cool. I was lucky to meet a Swedish brother and sister (Robin and Sara) who I travelled with up until Xi’an. We had some great times at the Beijing Zoo (for the sake of animals everywhere…NEVER go here), Summer Palace, Mao’s grave, silk markets, Temple of Heaven among many, many others. Travelling with these two was an absolute riot and they basically sold me on Sweden being the greatest country on earth (Ikea, H&M, WESC and Volvo...what more can you want? Oh yeah…and ABBA haha). Ray, a friend of Robin’s from Beijing and took us out for a night on the town including some shopping and great Tibetan food.
We travelled together on the “hard seat” to Xi’an which according to Ray is only for the poor and students. Lucky for me I am both of those and it was actually a lot of fun. Nobody spoke a word of English but we still managed to have a lot of fun with (some at the expense of) the people around us.
Beijing got an A++ in my books and is an absolute must for anyone.
We arrived in Xi’an which is famous for the Terracotta Army, and instantly melted. Up until this point the thermometer had yet to dip below 34 degrees. Xi’an was a cool city with a great Muslim district and city wall. We headed to the Terracotta Army the second day and we were all slightly disappointed. They have somehow managed to turn a potentially amazing place into a disaster of a tourist trap. It was far less impressive than what our expectations held but still neat to see. The day got better though when we returned to the city and rented bikes and drove along the city wall which runs 13km. Xi’an was a fun little town (5,000,000 is little by Chinese standards) and far less hectic than Beijing.
Xi’an gets an A-.
The dynamic duo and I went our separate ways from Xi’an. I headed to Guilin and the Swedes were off to Chonqing. I arrived in Guilin late at night and planned for the next day. Guilin is famous for the Li river which is full of mountainous limestone peaks. The following day I took a boat cruise on a bamboo boat down to the town of Yangshuo with two Germans. Yangshuo, like Guilin is very touristy and but still beautiful. We rented bikes and a guide took us out to Moon Hill and then through an extremely scenic trip through some small villages. The second part of the bike trip may have been the most beautiful landscape I have ever experienced. I tried to take hundreds of pictures to try and capture it but none even come close to doing it justice. It was just phenomenal and a great day on the whole. I somehow managed to get pretty sick from something I ate the next day so aside from checking out a few sites in the town I just relaxed and caught up on some sleep. Up until this point it had been complete and utter nonstop go go go and it was nice to catch my breath for a bit before I headed to Singapore.
Guilin gets a B-
Yangshuo the town a C+
The Li river an A+
and the area surrounding Yangshuo an A++++.
From Guilin I flew to Guangzhou and spent the night in the un air conditioned pitch black airport. It was fairly new so that was nice but a tad uncomfortable. I flew from Guangzhou to Singapore on the 11th where Mitch met me at the airport. I can’t tell you how nice it was to see him. We have been planning this for what seems like forever and I don’t think either of us could wipe the smile off our faces for the first little while.
Singapore was a bit of a disappointment, but on the other hand I had no expectations. It is for all purposes a giant shopping complex that lacks any real substance, aside from a few corners of town. Nice place to meet up though.
We are now in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia also known as Borneo. Tomorrow we are heading into the jungle for a couple of days and Mitch and I have already started to think of a plan of attack should we encounter any Rhino’s which apparently is a possibility in the part we will be trekking. We have opted to do it tourless and guideless so it should be a real off the beaten track type approach. More on Borneo next week.
Again, my apologies for not writing this sooner. Spread the news that I am back in business and will be writing at least once a week until I get home. For the record China is a can’t miss country…the only problem is that it’s so massive that you can’t help but miss things. I will be back again though…maybe sooner rather than later actually, but time will tell. There is so much that I didn't include in this post that I can't wait to share with all of you. My time in the Mao-velous country was only enhanced by travelling with two incredible people, so a big thank you to Robin and Sara…I’ll see you soon.
Also if you get bored of me, Mitch is here as well http://mbushuk.blogspot.com/. Read his blog…it will likely include bigger words and cohesive sentences! p.s. comment the hell out of it!
Talk to you soon.
kc
Where to begin?...How about China seeing as though that is where I have been hiding the past little while. For those of you who have dreamt up China as a polluted, overcrowded mess of peace signs, you actually aren’t that far off the mark. While it may be bursting with western world stereotypes I almost instantaneously fell in love with the complete and utter chaos that is China. Simply put the country is amazing. There is never a dull moment while the sights and sounds provide for a truly unique and amazing experience.
My time in China began in Beijing after a connection (and breakfast with Eamon) in Hong Kong from Sydney. I was a bit apprehensive about leaving the airport via subway however the system was extremely easy to navigate (thanks in part to the 2008 Olympics I’m sure) and I was able to find my hostel which was located near Tiananmen Square nestled in between an ever changing construction site.
I spent the first full day in Beijing checking out Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen had an extremely powerful feeling however you can’t help but feel that “big brother” is watching you constantly. The Forbidden City was also quite spectacular and extremely massive. It originally housed the Chinese emperor but is now open to the public.
My second day was out at the Great Wall. The hostel I stayed at ran a secret wall tour where we were taken 2.5 hours outside of Beijing to climb a largely untouched, and original part of the wall. We met this old Chinese woman who was very yoda-like and probably in her early 70’s who led us up the mountain and through the wall, all with her cane! It was quite hilarious but absolutely beautiful. There was not another tourist in sight, aside from our group and the wall wrapped around the mountains for as far as the eye could see. You really appreciate what a fascinating feat of engineering and sheer will power the wall is after taking this trek…unlike anything I have ever seen or experienced.
In the first few days in Beijing I got out to the Olympic park where the birds nest was lit up in all its glory at night. It is even more fantastic in real life and the water cube was equally as cool. I was lucky to meet a Swedish brother and sister (Robin and Sara) who I travelled with up until Xi’an. We had some great times at the Beijing Zoo (for the sake of animals everywhere…NEVER go here), Summer Palace, Mao’s grave, silk markets, Temple of Heaven among many, many others. Travelling with these two was an absolute riot and they basically sold me on Sweden being the greatest country on earth (Ikea, H&M, WESC and Volvo...what more can you want? Oh yeah…and ABBA haha). Ray, a friend of Robin’s from Beijing and took us out for a night on the town including some shopping and great Tibetan food.
We travelled together on the “hard seat” to Xi’an which according to Ray is only for the poor and students. Lucky for me I am both of those and it was actually a lot of fun. Nobody spoke a word of English but we still managed to have a lot of fun with (some at the expense of) the people around us.
Beijing got an A++ in my books and is an absolute must for anyone.
We arrived in Xi’an which is famous for the Terracotta Army, and instantly melted. Up until this point the thermometer had yet to dip below 34 degrees. Xi’an was a cool city with a great Muslim district and city wall. We headed to the Terracotta Army the second day and we were all slightly disappointed. They have somehow managed to turn a potentially amazing place into a disaster of a tourist trap. It was far less impressive than what our expectations held but still neat to see. The day got better though when we returned to the city and rented bikes and drove along the city wall which runs 13km. Xi’an was a fun little town (5,000,000 is little by Chinese standards) and far less hectic than Beijing.
Xi’an gets an A-.
The dynamic duo and I went our separate ways from Xi’an. I headed to Guilin and the Swedes were off to Chonqing. I arrived in Guilin late at night and planned for the next day. Guilin is famous for the Li river which is full of mountainous limestone peaks. The following day I took a boat cruise on a bamboo boat down to the town of Yangshuo with two Germans. Yangshuo, like Guilin is very touristy and but still beautiful. We rented bikes and a guide took us out to Moon Hill and then through an extremely scenic trip through some small villages. The second part of the bike trip may have been the most beautiful landscape I have ever experienced. I tried to take hundreds of pictures to try and capture it but none even come close to doing it justice. It was just phenomenal and a great day on the whole. I somehow managed to get pretty sick from something I ate the next day so aside from checking out a few sites in the town I just relaxed and caught up on some sleep. Up until this point it had been complete and utter nonstop go go go and it was nice to catch my breath for a bit before I headed to Singapore.
Guilin gets a B-
Yangshuo the town a C+
The Li river an A+
and the area surrounding Yangshuo an A++++.
From Guilin I flew to Guangzhou and spent the night in the un air conditioned pitch black airport. It was fairly new so that was nice but a tad uncomfortable. I flew from Guangzhou to Singapore on the 11th where Mitch met me at the airport. I can’t tell you how nice it was to see him. We have been planning this for what seems like forever and I don’t think either of us could wipe the smile off our faces for the first little while.
Singapore was a bit of a disappointment, but on the other hand I had no expectations. It is for all purposes a giant shopping complex that lacks any real substance, aside from a few corners of town. Nice place to meet up though.
We are now in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia also known as Borneo. Tomorrow we are heading into the jungle for a couple of days and Mitch and I have already started to think of a plan of attack should we encounter any Rhino’s which apparently is a possibility in the part we will be trekking. We have opted to do it tourless and guideless so it should be a real off the beaten track type approach. More on Borneo next week.
Again, my apologies for not writing this sooner. Spread the news that I am back in business and will be writing at least once a week until I get home. For the record China is a can’t miss country…the only problem is that it’s so massive that you can’t help but miss things. I will be back again though…maybe sooner rather than later actually, but time will tell. There is so much that I didn't include in this post that I can't wait to share with all of you. My time in the Mao-velous country was only enhanced by travelling with two incredible people, so a big thank you to Robin and Sara…I’ll see you soon.
Also if you get bored of me, Mitch is here as well http://mbushuk.blogspot.com/. Read his blog…it will likely include bigger words and cohesive sentences! p.s. comment the hell out of it!
Talk to you soon.
kc
Friday, June 19, 2009
Let's do this
Well my final exam has come and gone, as has the my final month. Seven days and counting until I leave this amazing country and the feeling is definitely bittersweet. I am excited to travel, but not so excited to leave all of the amazing people I have met.
My laptop is catching a flight to Toronto in an hour so I just want to update all of you as to my whereabouts the next 9 weeks.
I will be spending 4 days of my final week in Australia up in Byron Bay with some friends. We rented a beach house and are planning on just relaxing have having one last hurrah before we all have to go our separate ways. When I get back to Sydney on Wednesday I will be going with a bunch of friends to the State of Origin Rugby game which is essentially the best players from Queensland and New South Wales duking it in a three game series...this is game two so it should be a lot of fun.
As per my earlier post (right below this one) I am heading to China for two weeks before meeting up with Mitch in Singapore. Below are Mitch and I's plans for seeing South East Asia.
1. We will travel from Singapore to Borneo (Malaysian part) and spend a week checking out the Orangutans, rain forests and hopefully some of the best scuba diving in the world
2. From Kota Kinabalu we will fly to Kuala Lumpur and spend a couple of days there.
3, 4. From KL we will travel to Siem Reap, Cambodia where we will see the temples of Angkor Wat and make our way by bus down to Phnom Penh.
5 , 6. From Phnom Penh we will travel via Bangkok to Chiang Mai and spend a chunk of time up there seeing Northern Thailand.
7. From Chiang Mai we are flying to Krabi to check out some of Thailands famous beaches and hopefully get over to the full moon party.
8. From Krabi we will fly to Bangkok and spend a few days there checking out what the city has to offer.
9. From Bangkok we will fly to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam.
10. We will spend about 10 days travelling north in Vietnam before getting to Hanoi.
11. From Hanoi we will fly to Hong Kong, my last stop before I come home on August 22nd.
This is our tentative plans as of right now, but I just thought I'd give you guys a heads up of where you can expect to see new blog posts from! Being in Australia has been absolutely great, however the culture is not all that different from home which is why I am really looking forward to seeing a part of the world that is completely foreign to me.
All the best for the coming week, and I'll talk to you all very soon!
Kev
My laptop is catching a flight to Toronto in an hour so I just want to update all of you as to my whereabouts the next 9 weeks.
I will be spending 4 days of my final week in Australia up in Byron Bay with some friends. We rented a beach house and are planning on just relaxing have having one last hurrah before we all have to go our separate ways. When I get back to Sydney on Wednesday I will be going with a bunch of friends to the State of Origin Rugby game which is essentially the best players from Queensland and New South Wales duking it in a three game series...this is game two so it should be a lot of fun.
As per my earlier post (right below this one) I am heading to China for two weeks before meeting up with Mitch in Singapore. Below are Mitch and I's plans for seeing South East Asia.
1. We will travel from Singapore to Borneo (Malaysian part) and spend a week checking out the Orangutans, rain forests and hopefully some of the best scuba diving in the world
2. From Kota Kinabalu we will fly to Kuala Lumpur and spend a couple of days there.
3, 4. From KL we will travel to Siem Reap, Cambodia where we will see the temples of Angkor Wat and make our way by bus down to Phnom Penh.
5 , 6. From Phnom Penh we will travel via Bangkok to Chiang Mai and spend a chunk of time up there seeing Northern Thailand.
7. From Chiang Mai we are flying to Krabi to check out some of Thailands famous beaches and hopefully get over to the full moon party.
8. From Krabi we will fly to Bangkok and spend a few days there checking out what the city has to offer.
9. From Bangkok we will fly to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam.
10. We will spend about 10 days travelling north in Vietnam before getting to Hanoi.
11. From Hanoi we will fly to Hong Kong, my last stop before I come home on August 22nd.
This is our tentative plans as of right now, but I just thought I'd give you guys a heads up of where you can expect to see new blog posts from! Being in Australia has been absolutely great, however the culture is not all that different from home which is why I am really looking forward to seeing a part of the world that is completely foreign to me.
All the best for the coming week, and I'll talk to you all very soon!
Kev
Saturday, May 16, 2009
I wait, yeah I wait, for something good, for something great
Well folks, with a little less than 6 weeks left down under I thought I would update you on my post-Australia plans.
I am set to meet the one and only, Mitch Bushuk on July 11th in Singapore but before that I recently decided that a jaunt to China was in order. Up until recently the idea of China never really crossed my mind but I figured that I had some time between my last exam finishing and meeting Mitch so I might as well make the most of it.
I am set to leave Sydney on the 27th of June where I will fly to Hong Kong and make my way by bus to Guangzhou, China. From there I will fly to Beijing where I will try to cram in as much excitement into 7 days as I can. I will then take the train from Beijing to Shanghai where I will spend another five or so days exploring the sights and sounds before flying back to Guangzhou. After a day or two in Guangzhou it will be onwards and upwards to Singapore to meet Mitch.
While Mitch and I don't have any concrete plans or itineraries thus far for South East Asia, we will spend six weeks trekking around Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (which I'm looking most forward to) before heading up to Hong Kong in time for me to fly home on the 22nd of August.
Life is great.
I am set to meet the one and only, Mitch Bushuk on July 11th in Singapore but before that I recently decided that a jaunt to China was in order. Up until recently the idea of China never really crossed my mind but I figured that I had some time between my last exam finishing and meeting Mitch so I might as well make the most of it.
I am set to leave Sydney on the 27th of June where I will fly to Hong Kong and make my way by bus to Guangzhou, China. From there I will fly to Beijing where I will try to cram in as much excitement into 7 days as I can. I will then take the train from Beijing to Shanghai where I will spend another five or so days exploring the sights and sounds before flying back to Guangzhou. After a day or two in Guangzhou it will be onwards and upwards to Singapore to meet Mitch.
While Mitch and I don't have any concrete plans or itineraries thus far for South East Asia, we will spend six weeks trekking around Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (which I'm looking most forward to) before heading up to Hong Kong in time for me to fly home on the 22nd of August.
Life is great.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Second times a charm
Annnnnnnnd were back! Yes, I know...it took long enough but better late than never I supppose. You all have Melissa to thank as her constant nagging for more blog posts (with pictures!) has finally paid off.
Where to begin...it's been a month since my last post and a lot has happened. Not surprisingly, the month of April flew by but it was also the source of some of my greatest memories to date.
The university was kind enough to give us a beauty two week mid-semester break where I headed up to Melbourne and the Great Ocean road for a second stint. This time I went with three of my friends who are also on exchange, Ben (Austria), Cas (Holland) and Rohit (India). I am really glad that I got the chance to go back to Melbourne as it quickly became one of my favourite cities that I have visited. Travelling with 3 of the coolest guys I have met down under didn't hurt either
We spent 4 days checking out the city and drinking beer...lots and lots of beer. The highlight was definitely all the time we spent in Fitzroy (aka Fitzrockn'roy) which can only be described as Queen West x100.
Two of Rohit's friends (Aditi and Roxanne) met us in Melbourne and we headed out west for two days on the Great Ocean Road. I don't think I need to reiterate how awesome it is, but it was definitely worth doing again!
The beauty of doing it the second time around was that this time it wasn't foggy at the Twelve Apostles and we actually got to enjoy the sunset there, which was just incredible. We stayed the night in Apollo Bay which is home to the nicest hostel I have ever stayed at and some of the best Thai food I have ever had (forgive me Salad King). The hostel had an awesome lounge and rooftop where we once again drank the night away. Before leaving Apollo Bay we took a short drive up through the national park, followed by an hours hike through the forest to check out some waterfalls which added to another great day.
Since getting back from Melbourne school work has been fairly constant. I suppose that's what happens when you squander a two week opportunity to get a lot done! Either way, as it stands now I am 7000 words and a final exam away from being done school.
More to come soon on my plans from here on out! (I promise it won't take this long next time)
kc
Where to begin...it's been a month since my last post and a lot has happened. Not surprisingly, the month of April flew by but it was also the source of some of my greatest memories to date.
The university was kind enough to give us a beauty two week mid-semester break where I headed up to Melbourne and the Great Ocean road for a second stint. This time I went with three of my friends who are also on exchange, Ben (Austria), Cas (Holland) and Rohit (India). I am really glad that I got the chance to go back to Melbourne as it quickly became one of my favourite cities that I have visited. Travelling with 3 of the coolest guys I have met down under didn't hurt either
We spent 4 days checking out the city and drinking beer...lots and lots of beer. The highlight was definitely all the time we spent in Fitzroy (aka Fitzrockn'roy) which can only be described as Queen West x100.Two of Rohit's friends (Aditi and Roxanne) met us in Melbourne and we headed out west for two days on the Great Ocean Road. I don't think I need to reiterate how awesome it is, but it was definitely worth doing again!
The beauty of doing it the second time around was that this time it wasn't foggy at the Twelve Apostles and we actually got to enjoy the sunset there, which was just incredible. We stayed the night in Apollo Bay which is home to the nicest hostel I have ever stayed at and some of the best Thai food I have ever had (forgive me Salad King). The hostel had an awesome lounge and rooftop where we once again drank the night away. Before leaving Apollo Bay we took a short drive up through the national park, followed by an hours hike through the forest to check out some waterfalls which added to another great day.
Since getting back from Melbourne school work has been fairly constant. I suppose that's what happens when you squander a two week opportunity to get a lot done! Either way, as it stands now I am 7000 words and a final exam away from being done school.More to come soon on my plans from here on out! (I promise it won't take this long next time)
kc
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