twelve countries twelve months

That’s all folks

robcheek — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:05:33 +0000

Four days of relaxing in Mui Ne:

Lounging round the pool

It's hard work this travelling business!

White sand dunes

Red sand dunes

Fairy stream

Two days of this in Saigon:

Drinks at the Sheraton, Saigon

Crossing the road, eek!

Three days in Hong Kong:

Hong Kong skyline

Hong Kong street

And our time was up. After 345 days on the road it was time to go home.

This has brought mixed feelings from both of us. We are sad to think that such an incredible year has come to an end. A year of complete freedom. A year of immense highs and a few lows. A year of seeing and experiencing new people, places and cultures every single day.

At the same time we are also excited to be returning home. A year living out of a ruc-sac and being on the move every few days has taken its toll. We are tired and ready to come home. It is also a long time to go without seeing anyone we know, apart from each other, and we are really looking forward to seeing our family and friends.

The other thing we are really missing is our own bed, and being able to sleep in it for more than a few nights at a time! Although a nibble on a decent bit of cheese would be pretty nice as well!

We haven’t had any major revelations while away, so will slip back into the 9-5 routine, but travel will definitely remain a part of our lives. It may be just through short holidays or, if the opportunity arises, another long trip.

If anyone reading this is in anyway contemplating embarking on an extended travelling trip, my advice is this – stop coming up with excuses why you can’t go and just do it, you won’t regret it. We haven’t – we have had the most amazing and unforgettable year.

That’s all now though, hope you have enjoyed reading and thanks for all your comments.

Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Hong Kong.
Twelve countries.
Twelve months.
Done.

Enjoying drinks on our last night. Twelve countries twelve months - done!

Come dine with me

robcheek — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:27:03 +0000

It was time to face our first Vietnamese night bus and we were intrigued to see if it would live up to the standard we had grown used to in Argentina. The short answer is NO! Although Rach might disagree. There were no allocated seats but in the rush she somehow managed to nab the best seat on the bus - a fully flat bed long enough for Peter Crouch, while I ended up on the “bench” seat at the back, snuggling up a little too closely with four strangers! Twelve hours later and we arrived in Hue where we were greeted by a bunch of hotel touts. We wondered what effects the long bus ride (or maybe just the toll of eleven months of travel) had done to our appearance, as when we mentioned to the touts the hotel we intended to go to (which cost nine pounds a night) they all said “no, you can’t afford to go there, that hotel is too expensive for you!”

Hue was a great place for us to swot up on our Vietnamese history. The central Citadel, contained within 2m thick stone walls, was the ancient capital city of Southern Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty, and while here we also visited the demilitarised zone (DMZ) along the Ben Hai river. This was the dividing line between North and South during the Vietnam war, and featured some of the bloodiest battles of the war. The American bases are now long gone and have been replaced with rubber tree plantations, so we had to use our imagination, but it was strange to think such a peaceful and serene spot could have been the scene of such heavy fighting as little as 40 years ago.

Traditional conical hats, Hue

Inside the Citadel, Hue

Chartering a boat, Hue

Tomb of Tu Duc, Hue

Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue

With only three weeks of our trip left, and especially after the Hue incident, we decided it was about time to smarten up so we hit the famous tailors of Hoi An. The initial plan was to each get a suit tailored for our imminent job interviews. However, having bought no clothes for a year we went slightly crazy. After several days of fittings across four different tailors we emerged with a job lot of suits, coats, jackets, trousers and even some custom made shoes! There was a tense moment at Rach’s first fitting for some trousers when she couldn’t even get them on (too many spring rolls I suspect!) but we are really pleased with all the end results, and are now trying to work out how to get it all home.

Hoi An

Chinese Lanterns, Hoi An

Squeezed in between our fittings we went to cookery school and learnt to cook some of the local dishes. We went to the market and a herb garden to pick up the ingredients then proceeded to cook up a tasty four course Vietnamese meal. We’ve kept all the recipes, so who wants to come round for dinner ?

Cooking class

Making rice noodles

Concentration!

Pho Bo (vietnamese beef noodle soup)

Shrimp steamed in banana leaf with chilli and lemon grass

Banana leaf salad with vietnamese rice cracker

Fish cooked in clay pot

Surviving Hanoi and Exploring The North

robcheek — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:29:58 +0000

Three hundred and nine days into our trip and we finally arrive in Asia. So far we are enjoying it so much we can’t work out why we didn’t get here sooner!

First stop was Hanoi, Vietnam. Walking around Hanoi proved to be pretty hard work; you couldn’t walk along without tripping over the sizzling pan or bubbling cauldron of a street food vendor or bumping into a long row of parked motorbikes! If walking along the road was difficult then crossing it was near impossible! The road was full of erratic speeding motorbikes and on first sight Rach suggested that we not cross any roads at all! That would have restricted our sightseeing somewhat however, so we had to go for it, and it went something like this:

Wait patiently for a break in the traffic
Realise there is never going to be a break in the traffic
Say a quick prayer
Take a deep breath and step out into the road right in front of hundreds of oncoming motorbikes
Walk slowly and steadily across the road hoping that, as you have been told they will, the swarm of bikes will all avoid you
Breathe a sigh of relief as you reach the other side

So far so good, until the next time anyway!

One Pillar Pagoda, Hanoi

Old Quarter Street, Hanoi

Snake wine

Hanoi was great fun but it tired us out after a couple of days, so we splashed out on a luxury cruise around Halong Bay on a Chinese Junk. As we relaxed on the sun deck with a beer and cruised around the 3000 or so limestone islands we felt like we were in the Bond film “The Man With The Golden Gun” but as I’m sure all you know that was actually filmed in Phang Nga Bay in Phuket. Although the word on the street here is that Halong Bay is much more spectacular. We certainly thought that it was very magical and mysterious, especially around sunset.

Junk

Halong Bay

Halong Bay by moonlight

Feeling refreshed we took a sleeper train north into the mountains near the Chinese border. We visited the rural hill village of Bac Ha for its colourful Sunday market, then, resisting the urge to buy a cheap Water Buffalo or a couple of pigs, we headed deeper into the mountains to the rice growing region of Sapa.

Bac Ha Market

Water Buffalo for sale

Flower H

Sheltering from the rain, Bac Ha Market

We hired a local guide who took us on an amazing trek through the lush green rice fields. It was planting season so we got to see the people from the local hill tribes strengthening the terraces and planting the rice. This in itself looked like hard work, then add that the women all wore their full traditional dress, and often had a baby strapped to their back. It was very impressive.

We stayed the night with a local family in one of the remote hill villages. It was really interesting to see how a rice farming family lived, to eat dinner with them, and then share a few glasses of rice wine!

Rice terraces, Sapa

Mountain village

Rice planting, Sapa

Endless task

Sydney

robcheek — Mon, 31 May 2010 01:42:34 +0000

It has a similar feel to London, but it is not as busy, and probably contains slightly less Australians!

Sydney Harbour

We were only in Sydney for a brief stopover on route to Vietnam, but couldn’t wait any longer for some tasty Asian food, so on our first night we headed straight out for a cheap Thai curry!

Although we only had a few days in the city, we still managed to fit in all the top sights and suburbs. The ferry to Manly and the beach in Bondi. Soaking up the atmosphere in Darling Harbour and checking out the famous view over the Opera House and Harbour bridge. Eating more Thai food in China town, and enjoying a beer in Kings Cross. We even managed to fit in a day in the nearby Blue Mountains. We took a three hour hike along the cliff tops from Katoomba to Leura, which left us both exhausted. Our stamina seems to have completely plummeted since the glory days of Patagonia.

Sydney at sunset

Manly Harbour

Us under the Harbour bridge

The Blue Mountains

The Three Sisters, Blue Mountains

Leura Falls, Blue Mountains

Rach in the Blue Mountains

Coffee and a Sudoku - travelling is not just about sightseeing!

Then before we knew it we were on a plane to Vietnam, our penultimate country, with only about 6 weeks of our trip left. We were sad that our trip was coming close to the end, but excited about the different experiences that Asia would bring (especially the food did I mention that already?!), and also we were starting to look forward to coming home.

Rain

robcheek — Sat, 15 May 2010 04:18:46 +0000

We headed down the west coast towards New Zealand’s glaciers and it started to rain. Then it rained some more. Then it rained even more! We arrived in glacier country and checked the forecast – five more days of heavy rain and thunderstorms. After our brief taster in Patagonia, we had been looking forward to a full day of glacier hiking here, but we decided it wasn’t going to be much fun walking anywhere in that kind of weather, so we cut our loses and headed inland to Queenstown. Where we were greeted with more rain! Lake Wakatipu was right on the verge of flooding. The shops along the lake shore were taking out their carpets and boarding up the doors with sandbags. We had been expecting some rain in this area, but apparently this was some of the heaviest rain for ten years.

Bruce Bay, in the rain

After a week of almost non-stop rain, when we were getting sick of sitting in our car, we suddenly got two days of sunshine, and headed straight to one of the highlights of the South Island; Milford Sound. To appreciate the fiord fully we took a cruise along its entire length. The early morning mist lifted to reveal massive waterfalls plummeting down the steep sides straight into the waters of the fiord - breathtaking. The rain was forgiven and we loved New Zealand again.

Wanaka

Autumn in Arrowtown

The Spaceship admires The Remarkables, Queenstown

The road to Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Adventure time

robcheek — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:09:47 +0000

After two weeks of leisurely driving around and sightseeing, our New Zealand trip suddenly stepped up a gear, when I threw myself out of a plane at 12,000 feet.

Ready to go!

I have always fancied a parachute jump and I’m glad I waited until New Zealand to do it. The views of the massive emerald Lake Taupo (which is larger than Singapore) in front of the volcanic cone of Mount Ngauruhoe (which featured as Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings films) made the drop even more unforgettable. Rach was being a wimp and didn’t join me, but now slightly regrets her decision and is threatening to find some even more impressive scenery elsewhere in New Zealand and do a jump of her own!

Not wanting to slow things down, we pulled on some wetsuits and dived into the waters of Queen Charlotte Sound to go swimming with dolphins. It was quite an event. First we had to find some dolphins and we were quite lucky as we managed to track down a group of bottlenose dolphins after only half an hour. Then we sat on the back of the boat while the captain positioned it in front of the dolphins. When he was happy he shut off the engines and it was go go go! We jumped into the water, stuck our heads under and swam around making as much noise as possible. We had to make whatever noise we though would attract the dolphins and ended up sounding like a right bunch of clowns! The first few times the dolphins didn’t seem to be interested, but after four or five attempts they stayed and swam with us. It was amazing to be in the water and make eye contact with dolphins only a few centimeters away.

Queen Charlotte Sound

Jumping dolphin

After we got out the dolphins stayed around our boat and we were able to watch them jump, feed and generally mess around right up by the edge of our boat.

Abel Tasman National Park was next up. The best way to explore the park was by kayak, so it was time for Rach and I to try a bit of teamwork; we climbed aboard a two person sea kayak and cruised the coast. We passed two seal colonies and explored tidal lagoons. It turns out we were a pretty slick team – I sat at the back supplying the power and controlling the steering, while Rach sat at the front taking all the photos!

Abel Tasman National Park

Kayaking Abel Tasman

Baby Seal

Exploring the lagoons

Off to explore Split Apple Rock

The East Cape Debacle

robcheek — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:10:12 +0000

Still enjoying the freedom and independence of our car, we headed off on a trip around the East Cape – the most north-easterly corner of New Zealand. The East Cape is the most sparsely populated part of the North island and blessed with some beautiful and remote beaches. We stopped for lunch on the long and sandy Oruaiti beach and were the only people on it.

The East Cape

Remote church

Lunch on the beach

Tolaga Bay

No one around so we had to take our own photo!

The next day we got up at 5am so that we could get to the East Cape lighthouse in time to watch the sunrise. The lighthouse is the most easterly part of a mainland in the world, so we would be among the first people on the planet to see the sunrise that day. That was the plan anyway. However, a little bleary eyed due to the early start I got a bit confused as to where the road ended and the footpath began. Ignoring Rachel’s warnings I ended driving uphill along a narrow grassy path which was blatantly not wide enough for a car. The next thing we knew the left two wheels had slipped over the edge into a ditch! We tried to drive out forwards but the wheels just spun. We tried to drive out backwards but just slipped further into the ditch. I tried to push the car out but wasn’t strong enough. We recruited two people who arrived to walk to the lighthouse, but even with three of us pushing it, the car was going nowhere. We tried all sorts of things involving bits of wood and the jack, but nothing. We had to accept it, we were well and truly stuck.

By now we had completely missed the sunrise, but that was the least of our worries since our car was stuck in a ditch in the most remote part of the North Island of New Zealand! We were in a right pickle and were still scratching our heads trying to work out what to do when a couple of guys, who had made it to the lighthouse for sunrise, came back down the path. By an amazing piece of luck they had a 4WD, a tow rope and a helpful attitude, and 10 minutes later we were back on solid ground. Phew what a relief!

Stuck in the middle of nowhere!

The scene of the crime - the front wheel was down there where my right leg is!

The lighthouse - we made it in the end!

The view we should have had at sunrise!

After this drama there was only one thing to do; hit the booze! So the next day we went on a tour of some of the wineries of the Hawkes Bay region and tasted as much New Zealand wine as they would give us!

Beautiful wine country, Napier

Sleeping in my car

robcheek — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:17:07 +0000

4.00 a.m. Easter Sunday. Auckland. New Zealand. We have completely missed Easter Saturday, since we left Chile just before midnight on Friday and flew over the International date line. Now we arrive in downtown Auckland and all the shops are shut! Fortunately we didn’t want to go shopping, we just wanted a big breakfast, the sausage, bacon and egg variety that was so hard to get in South America, and we were in luck. Weekend brunch is big business here, and even on Easter Sunday we were spoilt for choice of where to have our first proper fried breakfast of our travels.

Albert Park, Auckland

Auckland Museum

Auckland skyline

After eight and a half months of traveling together for 24/7 we didn’t think that we had tested our marriage quite enough, so we decided to spend the next six weeks living, sleeping and eating in a transformed people carrier.

The spaceship!

Me and the spaceship

The sleeping quarters may have been cramped but we were loving the new found freedom of our spaceship as we headed along near empty roads to the remote coves and beaches of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Coromandel Peninsula

The open road

Taking a break

Coromandel Peninsula

Rural petrol station

Cathedral Cove

We stopped briefly in Hamilton to see the Chiefs take on the Bulls in the Super 14. Then we headed to Rotorua, a geothermal wonderland, where steam seems to rise out of the ground at every corner. It is one of the worlds most concentrated geothermal areas, with no end of erupting geysers, colourful mineral lakes, and bubbling mud pools, and the whole place smells like rotten eggs!

As we relaxed in a naturally heated 38 degree hot spring, overlooking a rich green landscape interspersed with spires of rising steam, we both figured we were going to quite like New Zealand!

Wai-o-Tapu, Rotorua

Champagne Pool, Rotorua

Devils Bath, Rotorua

Lady Knox geyser, Rotorua

Wai-o-Tapu, Rotorua

Sliding through the snow

robcheek — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 07:00:35 +0000

Our time in South America was drawing to a close, and we wanted to finish with something memorable. Something such as climbing an active volcano, looking down into the smoking crater, then sliding back down it on our bottom. And would you believe it we were in luck, for in Pucon in Chile we could do just that!

Volcan Villarrica giving off some smoke

Volcan Villarrica - we were about to climb this beast!

It was a grueling five hour walk to the summit of the Volcan Villarrica, half over volcanic rock, half over snow. It perhaps seemed harder than it should have, as our guide was a bit of a slave driver. He hardly let us have any breaks, and when we did get a break we barely had time to take a photo and have a drink of water before we were being shepherded off again!

Hiking up the ice

All smiles after the climb

On top of Volcan Villarrica

Made it to the top!

Once at the top we gazed down into the smoking crater, hoping for a glimpse of some bubbling lava, but were out of luck. But it was pretty exciting, or maybe stupid, to be staring down the crater of Chiles most active volcano, which has erupted six times in the last fifty years.

Peering into the crater

Smoking!

We were lucky with the weather though. It was clear for the whole day, providing us with some amazing views of the other volcanos in the area.

View from the top

Volcan Lanin

Then it was time to descend. Why walk when you can slide? We strapped some extra padding onto our bums and off we went! It was great fun and we were down in under two hours!

Where is the snow?!

robcheek — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 07:00:25 +0000

We were missing out on our annual ski holiday this year, and as the rest of our group headed to the North American ski resort of Lake Tahoe, we arrived in the South American ski resort of Bariloche. Unfortunately the snow conditions in Bariloche didn´t make for great skiing – in fact it was summer and there was no snow at all!

Fortunately there is more to Bariloche than just skiing. It has a beautiful setting in the heart of the Argentinian lake district, surrounded by deep blue lakes and green forest covered mountains. And it is filled with shops selling amazing chocolate and restaurants serving excellent steak dinners. We ended up staying here well over a week.

Beautiful Bariloche

Lago Nahuel Huapi

After a couple of days in town eating steak and chocolate we packed our bags and headed for the hills. Our destination was Nahuel Huapi National Park where we spent three days hiking, staying in two remote mountain refugios, with basic beds and roaring log fires. We had a love/hate relationship with this hike; I loved it, Rach hated it! I loved the scenery, the views and the feeling of isolation. Rach hated the steep and loose downhill scree sections. At one point I heard her slip over on the loose rocks and turned round to see her sitting down, throwing stones around, shouting “I hate trekking” followed by “This isn´t trekking, this is risking your life with every step”!

Hiking through clouds

It was worth the scramble

Bumble Bee

Fed up with travelling by foot we hired a car and drove the famous seven lakes drive from Bariloche to San Martín de los Andes. 200km along a mainly unpaved road in a Volkswagen Polo – great fun! We were a bit unlucky with the weather, it was grey and cloudy and rained a lot, but this made for some great “mood” photos.

Leaving Bariloche behind

Lago Espejo

Lago Falkner

Lago Traful

Taking a break from the drive

Day 2 still cloudy still amazing

More rain!