TravBuddy.com: RachelSpencer's Bangkok and Beyond 2008/2009 travel blog Copyright 2005 TravBuddy LLC http://www.travbuddy.com/blogs/33882 Off again, first stop Bangkok then who knows?? en-us Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:56:08 PST Smelly http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Smelly-41 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:56:08 PST Smelly Rotorua, New Zealand, Jul 06, 2009

]]> Airport http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Airport-42 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:56:42 PST Airport Auckland, New Zealand, Jul 06, 2009

]]> Nearly Home http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Nearly-Home-40 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:55:57 PST Nearly Home Wellington, New Zealand, Jul 06, 2009

]]> New Year http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/New-Year-38 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:55:05 PST New Year Kaikoura, New Zealand, Jul 06, 2009

]]> Abel Tasman http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Abel-Tasman-39 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:55:34 PST Abel Tasman Nelson, New Zealand, Jul 06, 2009

]]> Christmas http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Christmas-37 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:53:31 PST Christmas Christchurch, New Zealand, Jul 06, 2009

]]> Australia Zoo http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Australia-Zoo-36 Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:38:48 PST Australia Zoo Brisbane, Australia, Dec 12, 2008

Our last stop in Australia was going back down to Brisbane as the flights to New Zealand were far cheaper from here…

]]> Great Barrier Reef http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Great-Barrier-Reef-35 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:37:42 PST Great Barrier Reef Cairns, Australia, Dec 10, 2008

After the bizarre-ness that was Gordonvale, we happily went half an hour further north to Cairns for a couple of da…

]]> Gordonvale http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Gordonvale-34 Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:36:32 PST Gordonvale Gordonvale, Australia, Dec 05, 2008

After the Whitsundays we went on to Gordonvale just south of Cairns for our 3rd helpx stay. This was NOT a success …

]]> Island Hopping in the Whitsundays http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Island-Hopping-Whitsundays-33 Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:30:57 PST Island Hopping in the Whitsundays Airlie Beach, Australia, Nov 30, 2008

After our time with Anne-Marie and the joeys we headed to Airlie Beach, a jumping off point for the Whitsundays.It …

]]> Farmstay 2 http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Farmstay-2-32 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 02:15:30 PST Farmstay 2 Gympie, Australia, Nov 24, 2008

...and so onto our second HelpX placement. This time in Gympie just north of Brisbane, well an hours drive away fro…

]]> Living it up on the Gold Coast http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Living-up-Gold-Coast-31 Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:24:52 PST Living it up on the Gold Coast Gold Coast, Australia, Nov 15, 2008

Just a short coach ride from Byron Bay and we hit the Gold Coast, to stay with the lovely Brea, my flatmate when I …

]]> Byron Bay - which was nice... http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Byron-Bay-which-nice-30 Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:17:00 PST Byron Bay - which was nice... Byron Bay, Australia, Nov 08, 2008

After leaving Jen's and Wingham, we went further North to Byron Bay. We arrived at the hostel in the evening t…

]]> Farmstay 1 http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Farmstay-1-29 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:24:34 PST Farmstay 1 Wingham, Australia, Nov 04, 2008

When we were in America, we did all the usual tourist things, stopped at pretty much every city and in some ways we…

]]> Arriving in Oz http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Arriving-Oz-28 Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:20:57 PST Arriving in Oz Sydney, Australia, Oct 26, 2008

We flew direct from Phuket to Sydney with JetStar which was a fantastic flight, unfortunatly the landing was not so…

]]> The end of the Asian adventure http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/end-Asian-adventure-27 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:17:31 PST The end of the Asian adventure Karon, Thailand, Oct 20, 2008

We decided to spend our last week in Thailand in Phuket having a beach holiday before heading over to Oz. Phuk…

]]> The River Kwai http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/River-Kwai-26 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:10:27 PST The River Kwai Kanchanaburi, Thailand, Oct 12, 2008

Kanchanaburi, home to the river Kwai and it's famous bridge. We wanted to make sure that we knew all about the…

]]> Indiana Jones and the mystery of the buddha in the tree.... http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Indiana-Jones-mystery-buddha-tree-25 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:16:27 PST Indiana Jones and the mystery of the buddha in the tree.... Ayutthaya, Thailand, Oct 08, 2008

So, we had to leave Chiang Mai for Ayutthaya, home of Buddhist temple ruins. We booked on an overnight VIP d…

]]> Goodbye Chiang Mai.... http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Goodbye-Chiang-Mai-24 Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:22:29 PST Goodbye Chiang Mai.... Chiang Mai, Thailand, Oct 05, 2008

With an extra 30 days in Thailand, we had to work out exactly how long we could reasonably stay in Chiang Mai and s…

]]> Burmese Border Run http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Burmese-Border-Run-23 Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:11:46 PST Burmese Border Run Mae Sai, Thailand, Sep 25, 2008

As British citizens, we are permitted 30 days in Thailand at a time, up to a total of 90 days in any 6 months. So 3…

]]> Gone to the dogs.... http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Gone-dogs-22 Sun, 21 Sep 2008 06:17:09 PST Gone to the dogs.... Chiang Mai, Thailand, Sep 21, 2008

It's difficult to know where to begin talking about our Chiang Mai experiences.... Before we went to the Elephant Nature Park Lisa was quite …

]]> Elephant Nature Park http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Elephant-Nature-Park-21 Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:20:24 PST Elephant Nature Park Chiang Mai, Thailand, Sep 04, 2008

On Monday morning we left Chiang Mai for Elephant Nature Park, 1 ½ hours north of the city. Elephant Nature Pa…

]]> Birthday wishes http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Birthday-wishes-20 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:21:15 PST Birthday wishes Hanoi, Vietnam, Aug 27, 2008

The weather in Hanoi was extremely hot when we returned from Halong Bay. In fact for the next few days we couldn&#3…

]]> Halong Bay http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Halong-Bay-19 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:34:05 PST Halong Bay Halong Bay, Vietnam, Aug 20, 2008

We wanted to spend a couple of days away from the city, as we have had quite a busy few weeks, so went with our hos…

]]> Good Morning Vietnam!! http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Good-Morning-Vietnam-18 Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:17:58 PST Good Morning Vietnam!! Hanoi, Vietnam, Aug 18, 2008

The bus from Nanning to Hanoi took about 10 hours, and was remarkably simple, considering we had to cross the borde…

]]> Vietnam visa run http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Vietnam-visa-run-17 Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:29:36 PST Vietnam visa run Nanning, China, Aug 12, 2008

Off to Nanning to get our Vietnam visa. Well, eventually. Going against everything I believe in, we boarded an…

]]> Olympic Beijing http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Olympic-Beijing-16 Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:14:27 PST Olympic Beijing Beijing, China, Aug 09, 2008

So we arrived back into Beijing on a bit of a high, just in time for the Olympic opening ceremony! Before we l…

]]> Great Wall of China http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Great-Wall-China-15 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:20:15 PST Great Wall of China Beijing, China, Aug 07, 2008

After a short visit to Hong Kong to comply with our visa regulations and pick up our friend Sarah from the airport …

]]> Pandas!! http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Pandas-14 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 06:30:43 PST Pandas!! Chengdu, China, Jul 27, 2008

The main reason we came to Chengdu was for the pandas. The majority of wild pandas are in the Sichuan region, and t…

]]> Another sleeper train..... http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Another-sleeper-train-13 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:21:01 PST Another sleeper train..... Chengdu, China, Jul 24, 2008

The train from Xi'an to Chengdu was not quite as nice as the others we had been on. The soft sleeper area (we w…

]]> Terracotta Army http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Terracotta-Army-12 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:49:26 PST Terracotta Army Xi'an, China, Jul 19, 2008

Another sleeper train, over to Xi'an, home of the Terracotta Army.Once again we ran into difficulties with finding our hostel. We were expecting a pi…

]]> Beijing: Part One http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Beijing-Part-One-11 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:50:53 PST Beijing: Part One Beijing, China, Jul 15, 2008

It's slightly unnerving here in Beijing. I've been reading 'Wild Swans' by Jung Chang and looking at the history of…

]]> Last day in Shanghai http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Last-day-Shanghai-10 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:13:48 PST Last day in Shanghai Shanghai, China, Jul 10, 2008

Braving the heat on the last day, we went to the Shanghai museum which had been highly recommended and was free whi…

]]> I'm a celebrity, get me out of here! http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/celebrity-get-me-out-here-9 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:11:04 PST I'm a celebrity, get me out of here! Shanghai, China, Jul 07, 2008

After a fraught first morning spent changing rooms and arguing with reception about whether or not they would wash …

]]> The only way is up http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/only-way-up-8 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 07:06:37 PST The only way is up Shanghai, China, Jul 05, 2008

Our train didn't leave Hong Kong until 3.15pm but we made our way to the station straight after checking out of our…

]]> Ferries and Trams http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Ferries-Trams-7 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:10:47 PST Ferries and Trams Kowloon, Hong Kong, Jul 02, 2008

After the excitement of the last couple of days we realised that we still hadn't gone across Victoria Harbour on the Star Ferry. The ferry s…

]]> What is the question? http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/What-question-6 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:32:35 PST What is the question? Kowloon, Hong Kong, Jun 30, 2008

It rains in Hong Kong. A lot.We are staying in Kowloon just across from Hong Kong island, where alot of the commercial centre is located. In …

]]> Escaping the city http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Escaping-city-5 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:18:27 PST Escaping the city Ko Samet, Thailand, Jun 24, 2008

We decided to go to a small island east of Bangkok called Ko Samet before flying to Hong Kong. After a sligh…

]]> What wat is wat? http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/What-wat-wat-4 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:28:15 PST What wat is wat? Bangkok, Thailand, Jun 16, 2008

We decided to stay in Bangkok for 3 more days as we couldn't get a cheap flight to Hong Kong for another 2 weeks and there are still things we wanted…

]]> Scams, elephants, cabbages and condoms http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Scams-elephants-cabbages-condoms-3 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:26:21 PST Scams, elephants, cabbages and condoms Bangkok, Thailand, Jun 09, 2008

For Lisa's birthday I had booked a couple of nights in a swanky hotel more in the centre of Bangkok. Given that it was such a reasonable price,…

]]> And so the journey begins http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/journey-begins-2 Sat, 07 Jun 2008 09:21:27 PST And so the journey begins Bangkok, Thailand, Jun 07, 2008

We arrived at Heathrow about 3 hours early for check-in to find out that they could not check us in as we did not have proof on onward travel or a Th…

]]> Packing again http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/33882/Packing-again-1 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:41:45 PST Packing again London, England, Jun 04, 2008

After 3 weeks back in England we're trying to pack again. Working for half the time at home has meant no time to really relax and think about anythin…

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