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Alex's round the world adventure

a travel blog by Ayglesia



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I'm off!

London, United Kingdom


Not really going to write a blog about london am I, I think it's just here so the map route looks right!!

permalink written by  Ayglesia on April 13, 2007 from London, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Alex's round the world adventure
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AHHH! Day 1 - and it's WET!

Bangkok, Thailand


Well i arrived in Bangkok at 3.30 this afternoon, and after some brilliantly talented negotiations managed to get a taxi into the city. The taxi man wouldn't take me all the way in though as he said his car would get dirty from all the water and flour, and that i would have to walk to where i wanted to go! He told me 10mins, which ended up being 30, after which i was completely SOAKED head to toe, and had a weird floury paste all over my face...it's new year here, which is celebrated by a mass water fight throughout the city for a few days. You literally can't walk a metre outside without getting pelted, quite fun really but i don't want to buy my own water pistol cos i'm trying to save!

So i've checked into a 'hotel', it's pretty clean and i have my own bathroom which is nice! It did cost about a tenner though so will be getting a cheaper place tomorrow, after a good nights sleep ha. Plan so far is to get moving down south as quick as poss to the islands. Bangkok is certainly an experience but you don't need long to appreciate it, it's so packed and dfficult to move in the streets. And it smells a bit.

Well i best go, my internet timer is saying 2 mins, i don't like the time pressure! Probably will go to get a bit of a midnight snack then go to bed (it's 12.30am here at the mo)

More news sooooon!xxx

permalink written by  Ayglesia on April 14, 2007 from Bangkok, Thailand
from the travel blog: Alex's round the world adventure
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Day 3 - Koh Tao, eventually!

Chumphon, Thailand


Last couple of days have been quite an adventure! Yesterday the new year celebrations came to an end, which was quite a welcome change - was having trouble even getting out my hotel's front door it was so busy. By afternoon most people had put down the water pistols and gunky stuff, and it suddenly became much easier to meet people without all the chaos. Turns out loads of travellers had just opted to stay in their hotel rooms during the water war!

Found a nice little bar late last night with live music, had a beer and met a funny german dude. Certainly felt the 2hrs sleep though when i got up at 4.30am to catch the bus this morning! Bus ride took 6hrs (and we thought CORNWALL was bad, think james bond style driving but in a huge coach of about 50 people...!). So that was terrifying, quite an eye opener though seeing all the huts by the roadside so many thais live in. Then a 3hr boat trip to koh tao (a tiny island down south). I'm at a wicked resort, quite commercial but looking forward to meeting people tonight.

Time's about to run out so back soon!xxx

permalink written by  Ayglesia on April 16, 2007 from Chumphon, Thailand
from the travel blog: Alex's round the world adventure
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Day 7 - Woo diving! And CRAZY motorbikers...

Chumphon, Thailand


So much to report on! It's quite hard remembering it all, I hadn't filled in my journal for a few days so took ages to do it this morning.

Urgh, I've just realised this keyboard is also home to quite a large family of evil ants...my fingers are getting redder by the second!!

Anyway, I finished my openwater dive course yesterday, ending with an 18m dive at a site called Red Rock. The whole thing lasted 3 days, each day starting with a lesson held on the beach front while we sipped coconut shakes, luxury eh. Then in the afternoon we would go for a couple of dives, gradually getting deeper. We'd take a big boat out to where the reef was best, it was awesome jumping off the boat roof too. Saw all sorts of stuff, but the highlight has to be being attacked by a big triggerfish, as we'd apparently intruded on his territory (they have big teeth). Lots of chaos followed, and our group of 5 got separated for a while until the instructor found us again. All this at 12 metres, how exciting!Ohh and i managed to blow bubble rings, they weren't that brilliant but i was pleased!

It's very easy to meet people here, almost any bar you end up chatting to someone. Met a couple of cool english guys the other night and ended up having a great night at a beach front bar. Stayed up till 3am and got quite pissed! These types of nights are the best, meet all sorts of people, some of them absolutely barmy.

Motorbike seems to be the way to go around here, but I think i'm going to avoid it - the number of peope i've met with bones broken and half their skin missing! The day I arrived my taxi man burst out laughing at 'silly english man' who was riding at 40 with his stand still poking out from his bike...can't imagine what happened on his next corner!Even if you're not riding one you need to be careful, I think it's up to the pedestrian to get out the way, judging by things so far.

The plan is to stay here a bit longer, probably move to a different beach, then maybe Ko Samui before I head back to Bangkok. Think I will take it easy tonight, they have bars that show movies so that sounds like a good option - had a few too many late nights, need to recover a bit.

That's all for now, I'm going to try upload pics so hopefully you can see them!xxx
...GRRR, I tried to upload pics but it says they're too large as I had my camera on a high setting. Oh well I will make sure future pics are smaller, you'll have to wait a while longer i'm afraid!!

permalink written by  Ayglesia on April 20, 2007 from Chumphon, Thailand
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Day 13 - I swam with SHARKS!!

Chumphon, Thailand


Hehe well they were only small reef sharks, that was just to get your attention, but I did swim with them nonetheless! I went on a snorkel trip yesterday, the boat took us to 5 different sites over the day, ending with a couple of hours to walk around Nangyuan - 3 tiny islands joined by a sand bar running between them. Great day, although despite all my efforts the sun got me! At least it's only on my back from the snorkelling. Met a couple of girls on the trip and we stuck together for most of the day, then met up again in the evening for drinks and pancakes...odd I know!

I'm going to work backwards on this update, it's hard to remember things without my journal to hand!

There's a bar on the beach called Lotus, really popular and can be a real party if the night's right. I was in there the other night just for a few beers and met Victor, a 50 year old Austrian guy I will never forget meeting. We got chatting about why we were both in Thailand, and he told me his story, I was in awe! He was on a beach near Phuket, called Khao Lak, when the tsunami hit in Dec 2004. He and his wife were sat on their balcony when they saw the silver line appear in the distance, and they took pictures as it looked so beautiful. As it got closer they realised, but couldn't do anything - they were already high up ground so it wasn't worth moving. Anyway, the wave hit and their cottage was amongst just 3 to be left standing, with one palm tree, on the whole beach. Victor's wife was washed away by the current, but rescued later. The water came into their cottage and pushed Victor to the ceiling where he escaped through a roof window, and then sat in the 40C sun for hours before being rescued. Pretty scary eh! Now he comes back a couple of times each year, and visits the same place to help as he says it has hardly recovered. Incredible story I had to share, I haven't met anyone quite like that before, he practically devotes his life to those Thai people that suffered. I don't normally take my camera out in the evening but that night I had it so there is one of him here.

I spent a couple of nights down the south of the island, very quiet there but still stunning beaches with coral reef everywhere. The first night I stayed in a grim bungalow on a cliff, it did have a great sea view and looked nice from the outside

, but inside was horrible - loads of insects, half a sink, a shower that dripped at best...rubbish! That night I got quite drunk so I didn't notice it as much, although the entire half-a-sink came away in my hands when i used it. Oops!

Met an english guy called Jon and buddied up the next night - accomodation is much cheaper if there's two of you. Had brilliant food down there too - chicken and cashewnuts is the BEST I have now decided! Still, wanted to get back to Sairee beach, it's more lively and a much better party.

Anyway I'm back here now, there's a full moon party on Koh Pha Ngan 1st May so I will go for that before heading back to Bangkok and catching my flight to see the aussies!!

Hmm I'm not happy with that blog update, I will go fetch my journal for next time and update this I think - I'm sure there's more stories I want to tell you!

Over 'n out xxx



permalink written by  Ayglesia on April 25, 2007 from Chumphon, Thailand
from the travel blog: Alex's round the world adventure
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Day 21 - MONSOON! And Full Moon Party madness.

Ko Phangan, Thailand


Ok sorry for the gigantic delay in keeping you updated, but i'll make this a good'un as some sort of consolation!

Firstly, thanks to those of you who said you enjoyed reading about my meeting with Victor, the Austrian guy who was hit by the Tsunami. I wanted to add that he no longer gives money to charities for this cause. He said that in many cases the money doesn't go where it's needed, for example they'll build a school in the middle of Bangkok instead of where the wave hit. Obviously a RUBBISH idea! Instead, he sends money directly to people's addresses, then visits them when he next comes to Thailand. Sooo...just to let you know in case any of you have been donating!

Righty ho, back to my big adventure. Sitting comfortably?!

Since the last write up, I spent a couple more days in Koh Tao, mostly chilling and going out in the evenings. The Lotus bar that I mentioned before was a great place to hang out, the party would go on quite late and they have a bit of a dancefloor, all be it shaky rotting wood, but it's something! It was raised up with open sides to the beach, quite convenient as the drunk people tended to fall off and pass out on the beach.

I hopped on a ferry on the 28th for Ko Phangan (another small island), a couple hours trip. Got chatting to Natalie, a teacher from Durham and it turned out we were heading for the same resort. After a particularly dodgy journey to the main beach (you know, going up a steep hill with the van gradually getting slower, luckily we reached the top with all the momentum of a snail), we trekked for about 25mins to the resort. I say trekked, it was a brief time but we were pretty soaked from the workout. However it was worth it, my room was nice and big and CLEAN, made a welcome change from the insect zoos I had been getting used to. And the blood on the sheets, and the broken fans...!

By now the monsoon season was well on it's way, it rained everyday almost all day from then until I left Thailand. I wasn't best pleased, especially since I was relying on those days to get a tan before the full moon party! Because of this, I'm ashamed to say I didn't get much done while I was on Ko Phangan, so i'm sorry for the lack of stories and pictures! Mostly ended up staying at resorts and chatting to people, watching the occasional movie, and playing with the resident puppy at my resort (very cute, but well trained - he stole your money belt at any opportunity!). I also met someone from KPMG Manchester (the company I worked for in England), small world! Made me remember all the good times I had before I left.

You may have heard about the legendary full moon parties of Ko Phangan, but if you haven't it's basically a huge beach party (approx. 8000 people) that starts at 7pm, with most DJ's packing up at 11am the following morning. A real rave! Sorry that sounded very old man... Well it was a mental night, I went out at midnight and partied until 5am. There is drink and drugs everywhere. Most people drink Sangsom buckets, which is a Thai whiskey mixed with red bull (extremely strong stuff here, it's just a caffeine loaded syrup) and pepsi. I hardly drank anything, and noticed a lot more because of it. During my walk along the beach at 5am, I saw a guy getting rushed away on a stretcher being carried by 15 others. Then there were girls my age passed out face down in the sand on their own, and people who could hardly walk were swimming in the sea. I spoke to some guys who had seen a drowned man get pulled out earlier on that night. Not meaning to put you off, but if anyone else wants to go then just be careful!! And avoid the drugs, apparently if you buy some there's a high chance you'll get searched by police a few minutes later - they 'somehow' know exactly who and when to check. The going rate for bribery is currently around £20,000 according to most people, otherwise you go to a Thai prison for quite a while!

Left for Bangkok in a rush the next day as I overslept. The mammoth 15hr journey back went surprisingly quickly, arriving in the city at 4am, awoken by the shrieks of our excited bus driver - probably ecstatic he had managed to get us there in one piece despite drinking Sangsom all the way. I found a room and dumped my pack, then went for a beer with someone from the bus ride. Beer never tasted so good, and it was 5am!

Had a few hours sleep then went out, had ALL my clothes washed and ironed for me. Guess how much? Just under a quid!! Mind you, I went to pick it up from the little street hut, and watched 2 rats jump out the washing machine door, lovely. Then went shopping, Bangkok was much more different to when I had been there during Songkram (Thai new year), not as crowded and there were lots more market stalls. Haggling for stuff was fun - the Thais always smile and stay pleasant, it becomes a bit of a game. Bought my nephew a pressie from a guy on the street, he makes mini tuk-tuks (a Thai motorcycle taxi) out of beer cans and coat hangers. Very common to live on the streets like this guy, he sort of snarled at me when I asked to take the picture, so I was quite quick to get going!

In the afternoon I found a bar with a stage and piano, had a jam with 2 Thai guys (guitar & drums) - really enjoyed it, have missed playing the last few weeks.

In the evening I met Vicky, another person from the KPMG gap programme - such a coincidence! Was good to catch up, we went out with her friends that night to a bar on the Khao San Road. A couple of ladyboys spent most of the night waving and blowing kisses at me from the bar, urgh! On my way back to the hostel I got drenched by the rain. A good time to be leaving Thailand, I thought! My flight to Perth was at 2.30pm the next day.

permalink written by  Ayglesia on May 7, 2007 from Ko Phangan, Thailand
from the travel blog: Alex's round the world adventure
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Day 28 - Home comforts in Oz, PHEW!!

Perth, Australia


G'day to ya Poms!

Well I arrived in Perth at 12.45am on May 5th, very happy to be met by my sis, Simon (her husband), my niece Abbie and nephew Joel.

They emmigrated from England about a year ago, so it was high time for a catch up! Slept extremely well that night, lovely house, such luxury compared to the last few weeks.

Went on a deep sea fishing trip with Simon the other day. Quite a shock getting up at 5am to make it to the harbour in time, the boat was crowded and it motored for 1hr45 until we stopped to fish. The sea was rough, I got seasick!!

The picture you can see was taken while I was sitting on the seats, apparently looking a curious shade of green. That's Simon at the end of the boat. I managed to recover by midday after shovelling some food down me, but the worst part of this $135 trip...didn't catch a thing!

I spent a day wondering around the city looking for some piano playing work, it became quite an art walking into each hotel and trying to sell myself! It's a shame as i'm only here for a short time it's difficult to get employed. Went to a trendy oyster bar the other night on the Swan river to meet an agent/pianist I had met in Perth, had a bit of a play and it went well - I'll have to keep pestering him in case he can find me a gig - watch this space!

I had better mention an injury I had from Thailand. Walking in the sea one day I stepped on a piece of coral and it put a hole in my foot around the heel. It never quite healed up and was still hurting when I arrived in Perth a couple of weeks later. On consulting my sis about this one evening, she suggested we try dig the foreign object out. Cue Simon, who entered carrying (seriously) a TOOLBOX. Obviously distressed at the situation, I tried to protest, and they just laughed at me. Turned out the toolbox held their medical kit - what a way to scare their patients! Anyway it must have come out eventually, it's fine now. Just had to tell you about it, it was a hilarious night, think they quite enjoyed making me scared about the prospect of home surgery with DIY tools! I'm feeling kind so I'll spare you the picture of the injury...

permalink written by  Ayglesia on May 11, 2007 from Perth, Australia
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Day 41 - I CAUGHT...a...SHARK!!

Perth, Australia


Hello hello, had a really cool coupla weeks so thought it time to write a short 'ish' update.

I spent some time with both Aunties, starting with Margy for a few days. Managed to earn a bit of cash helping her with some paperwork - the piggybank needed topping up! We went kayaking one afternoon down a very scenic river. Had paddled for about an hour when auntie spotted a bike in the water, and decided it'd be a good thing to take home! So...after hoisting it onto the end of my kayak we had to paddle all the way back, I was quite shattered when we got back in the dark, bloomin' mozzies everywhere. I'm convinced the bike's nackered, either that or auntie will get arrested for riding a stolen bike when she tries it!

Had the neighbours over for dinner one night, Thelma and her daughter Sharon, who had been to South America so it was good to hear the stories. The evening gradually got more silly, peaking when Thelma went to fetch her Czech firewater...potent stuff at about 60%, no need to swallow as it just evaporated on the tongue!

Was great to see my Auntie Jean, we went to Freo (Fremantle) and had a gigantic fish n chips. Did some shopping, being a backpacker most of it was the window variety! Although I did get a new surf wallet, from the same shop as the one last time 5 years ago! Also managed to find my way to a barber, as I was looking like a bit of girl. Auntie is currently driving a boy racer car passed on from my cousin Alan, other cars keep revving up for a race from the lights, haha!

I'm back at my sis's place now. Had a day of surfing with Si the other day, it was a bit messy but nice to get out there! We went fishing of the rocks at Mindarie Keys the other day too, which is where I caught the SHARK!...well it was only a small one, and it was a Port Jackson shark so looked weird, but still cool eh! I was in a rush to get it back in the water so didn't get time to take a snap, but Si can back me up, "Alex did actually catch a shark". There.

Hope everybody is doing amazingly back home, more interesting tales of adventure soon!xxx




permalink written by  Ayglesia on May 23, 2007 from Perth, Australia
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Day 56 - Catching dinner down South...

Denmark, Australia


Ayeaye everyone.

Had a couple more days in Perth since the last publication, and went to the Jazz Cellar with my Auntie and co. It's a cool but funny place, bring-your-own everything, some people had saucepans of curry and were eating their dinner! To enter it you walk into a red phone box and then down a set of steps into this tiny basement, pay $12 to the dodgy bloke at the bar and then enjoy your night! It got really busy, and the band was made up of a bunch of nice old codgers. I had a jam with them and had a blast, going back tonight with a whole load of family so can't wait.



Took a coach down south to Albany on 30th May to see my cousins Miranda & Ritchie, the journey was 6hrs but a doddle compared to the drunken Thai buses! They actually live in a nearby town called Denmark. It's tiny with only a few thousand people, everyone seems to know each other. The house is 110 years old and was one of the first built in Albany. Completely wooden (apart from the chimney!) and on stilts, it's very cosy. Above is their local beach...!

It is stunning down there, probably the best place I've seen so far. What makes it so nice is that it's still quite under the tourist radar, so it's tranquil and clean, unlike a lot of Thailand.

Miranda took the day off work on Friday so she showed me around. We went to Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks, pictures say it all really! Went to a lush lunch at a picturesue winery, and stopped of at and animal farm which was hilarious. It was fun feeding the cute aussie animals, although the massive camel that made a beeline for my food was shit scary!

Saturday was perfect weather with no wind. Ritch and I took the boat out to the inlet for fishing. Crystal water had a surface like glass, and dolphins popping up all over the place. Caught loadsa stuff, and kept a few for dinner...At one point I had hooked onto a fish when something much bigger came and ate that one! I didn't last long fighting it, it snapped the line pretty easily. Exciting times anyway, we reckon it was a small reef shark.

The next couple of days were a bit rainy but I kept busy doing some painting on the house to earn a bit of much needed cash. Back in Perth now, going out in a min so going to finish quickly!

I have a trip up north on Monday for a week, so will have lots to tell when I get back!

xxx

permalink written by  Ayglesia on June 8, 2007 from Denmark, Australia
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Day 72 - Exploring the great OUTBACK, sleeping under the stars and swimming with MANTA RAYS!

Exmouth, Australia


AHH ONLY 1 DAY LEFT WITH HOME COMFORTS!! After that it's the backpack again, don't know how i'll cope without home meals! I'm off to the East coast of Oz on Tues, but truthfully can't wait to get exploring again. I had to put a nappy on my nephew Joel the other day, an experience so traumatic (for both of us), it made me realise I had reached my limit as a child carer!

In the meantime I have LOADS to tell you. Probably best to start with the introduction of this bloke...

Trevor was the tour guide on my 1300Km journey up north to Exmouth. Born and raised in 'The Bush' with lots of aboriginal influence, he never went to school but learnt more from his surroundings anyway. I couldn't think of anyone better to show us the real Aussie outback.

The tour itself lasted 8 days, the minibus stopping at various points along the West coast until we reached Exmouth on Day 5. The return journey was mostly driving as we made it back to Perth in 2 days.

To catch the minibus on Day 1, I was up at 5am, urgh! So there I was at the bus stop at 6.30, feebly trying to make small talk with a couple of German guys to take my mind off the fact I could not feel my legs, it was FREEZING. The bus ambled up eventually, and I hopped on. There were 19 passengers, 16 of which were girls! Which was obviously just AWFUL. Ha... There wasn't much chat to start with understandably as the picture shows, we were all nackered. Moreover, our first impression of Trevor was general terror. It was easy to see he was not a happy fella that morning, his face closely resembling the colour of a beetroot. Luckily this was a rare mood for Trev, and all was forgotten as we eventually got going (turned out the minibus was missing lots of things so we had to drive around the city picking things up, spare wheel etc).

The group were brilliant, initially a bit shy but the 11 Irish girls soon sorted that out! Also met Laura, another gappy traveller from Hull and we got on super duper. The driving wasn't too bad, only a few hours a day at most. First stop was sandboarding at Lancelin, awesome fun, although being my usual competitive self felt the need to try standing up...That was a bit silly, after successfully riding for all of 2 seconds I promptly took a nose dive and found myself chewing sand for the rest of the day, mmm!

Day 2 we stopped off at Trevor's mate Rick's wildlife park, basically an Aussie bloke whose back garden doubled as an animal haven, including a saltwater croc and variety of snakes! Rick proudly told us that Australia is home to 9 of the world's 10 most deadliest snakes. I smiled politely.
After stopping to see some horizontal trees (does exactly what it says on the tin) we were off to Kalbarri, home to some amazing scenery. On the way to our hostel we stopped to sit on a clifftop and watch whales playing in the distance, pretty cool. Overnight was in a typical backpacker dorm, me and 7 girls in the room, which I'm told makes things very inconvenient! I was fine, although quickly found situations like this render the communal shower very much inaccessible for the entire stay...

Day 3 was an early start of 5.30am, but was completely worth it to trek the gorges in Kalbarri. Then headed to Shell Beach, which was just as I remembered it from 5 years ago. Amusingly, my t-shirt and shorts that I wore that day were the same as those that I had on last time I visited! (Yes, you should send me money to buy some new clothes, email me and I will be happy to give you my address).

Saw some dolphins at Monkey Mia on day 4...

And overnight we stayed at an outback sheep station, really rustic with no electricity from 10pm, and hot water supplied by our campfire! Dinner was a feast, then we sat around the fire singing and toasting marshmallows. Then we dragged out beds outside and slept under the stars, cold but stunning!

Friday we arrived at Coral Bay, I took a boat trip and swam with some wicked 2.5m manta rays, turtles, sharks and all sorts! I really regret not buying an underwater camera, so I'm afraid you'll have to imagine it, but the manta rays were definitely the coolest thing i've seen so far.

In the evening we made it to Exmouth, and on Saturday went to a beach to do snorkelling. Lovely beach, except the bloomin' flies are everywhere - about 50 on you at any one time, AH! There was an area of patchy reef to explore, saw sharks, rays, octopus and another turtle! That was amazing as it was a lucky find, and it was only me and Laura following it around for about 30mins, it just didn't care we were there!

OK, I'm going to be completely honest here. Right now it's 1:10am in Perth. I'm up at 6 because I'm flying to Cairns in the morning, and although I thought I'd be able to finish this tonight my head keeps dropping forward and I keep jumping when I wake up again (you know the feeling don't you?!). Soooo, I promise to finish the news about the rest of my stay in Perth soon! There are more pictures on here if you click to view all of them.

Hope everyone's doing brilliantly, more news asap!
A.xxx




permalink written by  Ayglesia on June 24, 2007 from Exmouth, Australia
from the travel blog: Alex's round the world adventure
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