thing is i want to get anything i may need over here as is cheaper than in NZ, at the same time it’s hard spending so much money. oh well i’m sure i’ll get over it.

love you, and miss you
off to bed now as is 10pm and i’m tired today. gotta have a shower and do
some washing first.

tonight we go back to Hanoi on the overnight train then off to Halong Bay straight away tomorrow. then hanoi and home

we are having loads of fun, Zee is such a great travel companion, and he says the same about us which is nice. No disagreements

we were thinking winter will be a nice relief after all the heat but now
that we are in the hills and it’s cccooolllldddd maybe the heat isn’t so
bad after all.

I didn’t count on the apathy though :-/

Free wifi wasn’t forthcoming, and we had more important things to do then hang out at internet cafes. Infact, I should have kept this holiday lo-fi and just taken a pen and notebook.

So! What have we done? Well, We have ridden on a bamboo train, waded in the Mekong, Slid sideways on a bus going up a clay road in the rain, ridden some elephants, seen clearfelling of rainforrest firsthand, and had some beer. Mmm beer.

Oh, and the record for the most people on transport is 30 people on and in a minivan, with no air-con, for 4 hours. Thats intrepid!

I’ve finally got the chance to sit at the computer for a short while to
send an email. will take me ages as am using a normal keyboard (unlike my crazy whacky one at work that i am used to) so i keep hitting the wrong keys. have to hit them quite hard too which is a pain.

we are back in Phnom Penh for the second time arrived this avo. i think i am getting a cold as have a yukky throat and feel poo.

we have been on the move heaps but heading down to the coast tomorrow for some beach and hopefully r and r. it is the Khmer (Cambodian) new year this week so there will be lots of partying going on.

we have had loads of fun on our trip so far. we just took at trip out
east. a 10 hour bus journey turned into a 14 hour one due to some rain. yay, the roads are clay/mud so when it rains it’s a sorry state, our bus got stuck in the mud trying to get around a lorry stuck in the mud. the cambodian boys all jumped out and tried to push and dig and push but gave up after an hour. so we abandoned ship and all clambered onto the top of a ute in the middle of the jungle just as it was getting dark. over 20 people all holding on through the bumps and skids for 3 hours. me sitting on packs using richards camera bag strap as my stability. it was loads of fun. we later find out this is normal means of transport.

out east in Sen Monorom we visited an Elephant Sanctuary and i got to ride an elephant bareback, or should i say bare head. i sat on her with my knees tucked up behind her ears. it was well cool although i was a bit nervous of falling off. turned out they are so careful with everystep, i guess they don’t want to slip in the mud/on rocks and fall over. will be hard to get up.

yesterday appx 25 squeezed into a large van (4 rows of seats) with many more on the roof with luggage to go from Snuol to Kratie. it was
horrible, so hot and we were dripping with sweat sitting in there waiting
for them to cram another 10 (or 20 if poss) people in, but wait we can
get another 5 on the roof. and then we’ll stop every km or so and get
another few. you get the idea i’m sure
Kratie was cool though, we went and saw the only fresh water dolphin in the world (i think) which will probably be extinct in a few years. It
lives in the Mekon river

other cool stuff. I got a massage from a blind girl in Siem Reap, had a
fish foot massage. you put your feet in a pool of water full of little
fish and they suck at the skin on your feet, eating of the dry skin.
sounds great. i pissed myself laughing for the first minute or so as was
so ticklish.

we get around in tuk tuks or on moto’s (scooters) and you tend to have the same driver while you stay somewhere

went around all the wat’s in Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) and many others, very impressive and loads of them. haven’t had the guts to try deep fried crickets, bat, spiders or anything like that, but we are tryin lots of new food and fruit.

we also visited an orphanage in Siem Reap which was cool. the kids were all over us holding our hands, playing hand games, by the end of it they were kissing us and hugging us. it was really humbling

mike has just come down, him and Richard think i have Malaria
we’ll see

the locals love the video camera, especially the kids. they love watching themselves being played back on it.

i got a bit upset in Siem Reap seeing all the landmine victims. many
people have lost both arms or both legs or are blind. a lot of them have been taught to play an instrument and record their music on cd. they then play at the ruins and in the town to earn money and sell their cd’s. of course i want to give everyone my contribution but there are sooooo many.

there is a lot of poverty in this country but i feel they are developing
and getting on their feet at a great speed. which is really nice to see.
and they are soooo clever… big double beds being carried on a motor
scooter. go figure. next time i complain my car is too small to
transport anything, tell me to go and buy a scooter.

well i suppose i wont bore you any further. we are having a great time. it’s very hot so we are doing loads of sweating and detoxing
everyone is well except for me with my malaria

would love to have an email from someone…….anyone…….hello?

Geri

oh ps
the cambodians are really good looking and mostly young due to the
older ones being killed during the Khmer Rouge, my point being there
are loads of hot young guys here, and when they get hot they roll their shirts up exposing their abs. blimey the things i have to deal with

I’m in a quandry as to how to update my blog. I can’t really do a nice post every day, so I take notes. But then I get to a computer, have about 4-5 days of notes, and annoying case of writers block!

I was going to write a story about how they left my luggage back in NZ, or how Zee met us at the airport. However after a couple of days reflection, it didn’t seem that interesting.

We stayed the the vacant apartment of Zee’s parents in Cyberjaya (KL’s silicon valley). With a nice view of the distant admin capital of KL, white tile floor, modern darkwood furniture, and ceiling fans it was a really nice place to stay in. It did feel exotic-tropical staying in a place where you have ceiling fans going on all the time

We were unable to avoid scraping the car bottom at our local judderbar each morning, when we had Zee drop us off at the airport in his unintentionally lowered car. we caught the train from Cyberjaya to KL Sentral (R 9.50$ each, 5 and 35 past the hour), and then spent the days wandering around various parts of KL. Hmm, sounds like it’s time for a montage paragraph!

Motorways! Park! Biggest avairy in SE Asia! Peakcocks! Parrots! Eagles! Kites! Thunder! Lightning! No Rain?! Don’t pay R 10$ for a taxi from the avairy to KL Sentral – It should be ~R 5$! Orchid Garden! 200+ Photos! Grafitti! Central Market! Rain! Found the Shopping District when we had no time! KL Towers! KLCC Park! Got Whistled At! Thunder! Lightning! Rain! Sky-Bridge! Soft Toy Dog Photo! MONKEYS! Telecom Tower! Thunder! Rain! No-view! Rain Cleared! View! Humid!

We’ll im all out of imagination, so I’ll have to write about the Batu caves, KLANG gate, the two dead doctors and our weekend in Port Dickson another time.

Ah! great timing, Michael and Geraldine have just walked down the stairs ready for our time at Ankor….

Laters!

Well, fancy that! Maybe I should update my blog a little more often

And this is exactly what has happened to our travel blog.

So there you go, The website won’t really have any new content added till we go on another adventure, however the intention is to update and fix problems with the website, and slowly add the rest of our European travels.

Thanks for reading!

What Have we being up to?

Well, while in South America we managed to collect ourselves some stalkers by the name of Rhian and Lisa (Then Rhian, Julie and John). They followed us though Huacachina, Nazca, Cuzco, Navimag, and Calafate. Didn’t matter what remote part of South America we went to, they were there. Got to the stage that Rhian just said “Oh, fuck off!” whenever she saw us in a new random location, loudly, in public.

Well, surprise, surprise, they were coming to New Zealand. So Geri and I showed them the best we could of Wonderful Auckland. And how easy a cross town drive was at 6 in the morning on a sunday (stupid flight arrival times!). Had a nice picnic, and I took Rhian to a makeout spot by Auckland Harbour (hey – its a nice view! No making out was made, I’m a married man!)

After they left for their NZ escape, we quickly got bogged down catching up with work, and getting the house shipshape for summer. Birthdays rolled by (everyone has birthdays in November/December/January), yadda, yadda, yadda.

So, no more on the website. Well, not until we travel again. Hmm, I wonder what Zee is up to next year?

Shall I elaborate?

One 20-something couple travelling for 56 Days going though Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Walking Machu Picchu, Seeing the Nazca Lines, Visiting an Amazon Jungle Lodge, Photograhing Macaws, Visiting Lake Titicaca, Worlds most dangerous road, Worlds largest salt pans, Sailing though Chilian Fjords, Trekking Southern Patagonia, 120 Foot Iceburgs, even higher Glaciers and the Magellian Straight. Whew.

All Prices are in New Zealand Dollars!

H’ok. Two sections, pre-travel, and costs per country. Note that I don’t include flight costs in the per country breakdown as we got a special deal for combining it all together. Also note that the costs are for two people, not one!

Quicky breakdown for per day costs, keeping in mind this includes EVERYTHING except flights. Thats tours, food, transport, the lot (cheapest to most expensive):

$100 / day – Bolivia (all meals at resturants, private rooms with bathrooms)
$138 / day – Chile (self catering, sleeping in dorm rooms in cheap hostels)
$140 / day – Argentina (self catering, sleeping in dorm rooms in cheap hostels)
$166 / day – Peru (all meals at resturants, private rooms with bathrooms)

Pre-Travel

Medical

$791.05 – Anti-Malarial, Hep B, Typhoid Shots, consultant fees
$195 – Geri’s 3 rabies shots
$58.80 – 4 x Doctor Consultant Fees
$65.30 – our share of a travellers medical pack (Marzine, Buscopan, Loperamide, Diamox, Romicin, Ciprofloxacin)

Total: NZD $1110

Travel

$4968 – International Flights
$2242 – Local Flights

Total: NZD $7210

Equipment

$450 – Two Gortex Outershells (over 50% on sale)
$80 – 2 x Water Filter Bottle
$30 – Lonely Planet Bolivia (25% off)
$40 – Lonely Planet Chile and the Easter Islands (25% off)
$14 – Rubber bands + Oven bags (cheap camera waterproof cover ) and travel diaries.
$486 – 4x 2GB CompactFlash Memory cards for the Camera
$93 – 5 miniDV video camera cassetts, and a camera tripod

Total: NZD $1193

Other

$1000 – Personal Spanish Lessons
$320 – More Spanish Lessons
$10 – Mag to read on the plane
$199 – Bank fees recieved due to taking money out in South America via their ATMs

Total: NZD $1529

Countries

Peru

$272 – Transport
$3591 – Tours
$371 – Accomidation
$397 – Food
$171 – Souvineers
$69 – Net and Laundry

Total: NZD $5171

Bolivia

$80 – Transport
$380 – Tours
$95 – Accomidation
$58 – Food
$179 – Souvineers
$10 – Net and Laundry

Total: NZD $802

Chile

$171 – Transport
$1044 – Tours
$192 – Accomidation
$157 – Food
$81 – Souvineers
$10 – Net and Laundry

Total: NZD $1655

Argentina

$180 – Transport
$272 – Tours
$115 – Accomidation
$100 – Food
$35 – Souvineers
$1 – Net and Laundry

Total: NZD $702

Exchange rates used

NZD$ 1 will get you:
2 Nuevo Soles (Peru)
5 Bolivianos (Bolivia)
350 Chillian Pesos (Chile)
2 Argentinian Pesos (Argentina)
0.63 Dollars (USA)

View of smogbound Santiago from their famous funicular. Fitting really, that the most polluted city of the Americas, is the capital city of the least sustainable country in the Americas.

All throughout Chile and Argentina are packs of stray dogs. What makes them different are that they are all beautiful pure-breds or similar. The Photo was taken earily morning at the bus station as we were waiting for our bus back to Chile.