Thailand

We arrived in Bangkok on June 9th, I believe. We spent a few days in Bangkok before moving down south by train and bus to Koh Phi Phi (beautiful until it rained the last few days) and now have just travelled to Koh Tao to learn to dive at Ban's Diving Resort, which is not too shabby. I'd write more and each place but I'm tired after 12hrs overnight travel and internet isn't the nice 30cents an hour it used to be. I'll try and get some pictures up in the next little while if I can get Dave to take some and somehow get the time to upload them. Until then I hope the weather at home is turning to good summer weather. It better be nice when I get back in August.
And on a note as to the future, after Koh Tao we head to Koh Phang Nan for the Full Moon party on the 29th. After which we'll likely head to North Thailand, specifically Chang Mai to see the more tribal and jungle way of life, and likely see some elephants. Finally we'll head from the North of Laos down all the way to Cambodia before heading to Bangkok a couple days before our flight on the 31st of July.

Hanoi, Hue, Halong Bay and Hanoi

Ok, so I have fallen of the wagon when it comes to updating this. Partly due to uploading a bit more to Facebook but also because internet costs more and my camera died completely in Halong Bay so I don't personally have any pictures to upload just Dave. For all the pictures above they are on Facebook.

Hoi An photos.
Hue photos.
Halong Bay photos.

Sadly I don't have any pictures of Hanoi because my camera's dead, Dave might have some but I don't think so I think the only pictures of us in Hanoi are from a couple of British girls we met in Halong Bay. Look for us in a group on tiny chairs, thats Hanoi.

Nha Trang

On the bus ride over we encountered the crazy Vietnamese man but we also met some very cool and normal people. Among them, Ressie, a young American girl out here on a year long travel of the world, decided to join us or we join her, couldn't really tell how that worked. We ended up splitting a 3 bed room which was dirt cheap. The first day there (i.e. after a nice 4hr nap after the bus) we putzed around and went to the beach. We found a jetski rental place and went, wakeboarding, waterskiing and attempted skurfing. (Surf board pulled by motor boat). That night we went to another tourist bar place but found it pretty dead so with Ressie's talents at finding out the 'locals' spot we went to the "No.1 Club", really that was its name. We walked in to discover house and trance music pumping all around and that we were the only three non-Vietnamese in the bar. Great experience and most entertaining when girls are coming up to you in amazement that your skin is so white, what can I say I'm a pale guy. Another highlight was Dave on the dancefloor towering over absolutely everything in sight. There are pictures of that but on Ressie's camera so we'll see if we get hold of those. The next day we went on the boat tour which was terrific and basically had us for 8 hours on a boat with about 40 other people going to different islands to swim and snorkel. At one of the stops they put a floating bar out on the water and made us drink, we somehow managed to comply. Of course when we got back even though I had applied sunscreen 3 times I still had a massive burn on my back and shoulders. On our last day there we rented motorbikes and went all around town literally from one edge of the city to the other. It was great and for $5 for the day how could we go wrong. I have no pictures of the boat cruise nor the water skiing because something inside me said bringing my camera in water was just a good way not to get anymore photos at all. That was Nha Trang, a pretty fine city, and a great change from the big cities. Next stop Hoi An after another 12 hours bus ride.

For pictures of the motorbike day go here: http://ubc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093929&l=e4221&id=21005310

Ho Chi Minh City

We arrived here courtesy of Vietnam Airlines a very nice carrier and but it wasn't cheap very much Canadian prices for this one, sadly. Arrived in Ho Chi Minh to find that Dave's bag hadn't flown with us but it followed shortly about a night later, being brought to our hostel. Spent only a couple nights in Ho Chi Minh going to the basic museums and bars that are scattered around, and had to do this while dodging torrential downpours that gave three raindrops worth of notice before they open the floodgates. Day 2 we went to Cu Chi Tunnels where the Vietcong hid in tunnels upto 9meters underground for up to 10 years. They came up to ground in the night time but still these tunnels are tiny and they had whole kitchens and bedrooms made beneath the ground. Dave and I went through the "Western" sized tourist tunnel, because we literally weren't allowed in the real tunnel because you needed to be under a 34" waist. After that we returned to Ho Chi Minh spent the day eating and drinking around our hostel. Randomly bumped into Niamh one of the Irish folk who had stayed at the Fiji house some 4 years ago, on the street in Saigon, who would have thought. We boarded our bus to Nha Trang that night and embarked on one of the worst bus rides I have ever been on. The bus was fine until they decided we didn't need A/C anymore but the creme de la creme was the crazy and I mean touched in the head crazy, Vietnamese man that began talking to me while waiting for the bus and drove everyone on the bus nuts by talking to them and being so hostile and creepy that it would make anyone loose it. Thankfully he passed out for several hours in the middle of the trip to give everyone some peace but was up nice and early to wreak havoc again. 13 hours later we arrive in Nha Trang and begin our day of beaching and relaxation with a nap.

Because Twango was taking to long to upload my pictures I'm going to use Facebook from now on. So here's the link for anyone not on the time wasting service we call Facebook, http://ubc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093659&l=69ce1&id=21005310 .

Hong Kong

We flew from Shanghai to Shenzhen a city considered to be IN China (which Hong Kong isn't) for cheaper than our train ride from Beijing to Shanghai. Thumbs up to Shenzhen Airlines. Headed into Hong Kong proper took about 1hr or 2hr from the airport. We bunked up in Causeway Bay that night and walked around guided by an Ottawa native who happened to have arrived one day before us. We went to the races more by luck than by plan, and we arrive to pouring rains which cleans the railing and we happily take a front row seat and the rains stop. Perfect. Watched the horse racing there and called it a night. We moved to Kowloon for the remaining days to save some money and from there travelled the rest.(the picture is our room in Kowloon) In the 7 days in HK we saw Victoria Peak, HK Museum of History, the harbour and all that jazz. We spent several nights on Lan Kwai Fong the bar district where we watched a couple taped NHL playoff games and on one occasion ended up dancing with a local cover band somewhat on stage...that one needed a little bit of liquid courage to happen but nonetheless. We met up with the lovely Rachel Choo who became a dining partner on several occasions and also came to enjoy a Caesar at "The Keg" in Lan Kwai Fong, the same place that we watched the NHL games at. We also caught the lackluster FA Cup Final at another bar there where they always serve a ton of peanuts with beers. We also arranged our ticket and visa for Vietnam and cut it nice and close but what else would u expect. We headed to Macau on our final day in HK and saw that it was nothing too special, HK is definitely the richer older brother in this case. And then on Thursday the 24th we flew Vietnam Airlines to Ho Chi Minh City. HK was definitely more expensive than anywhere else but it still was around Vancouver prices. On to Vietnam. (and finally some beaches)

Shanghai

I finally uploaded all my pictures. Here are a bunch from Shanghai. We went to a really expensive hotel (to have a drink) called Jin Mao tower it goes to 89th floor and you get a great view we picked a bad time to get the full view. The weird picture that is sorta a pinkish beige is when you look up from the 54th floor up to the higher floors. The Big Bamboo is a bar we've been to twice here the second time it got a little messy, we definitely had an easy day or two after that. Shot some pool with Dave, Craig (this guy we met in Beijing) and Chris (a friend of his from Shanghai) and beat these crazy good Asian foosball bar girls (and by that I mean I beat one of the girls once.) on their foosball table. Walked around the Bund area a lot where we happen to be staying and generally bummed around the city. Not much for a tourist to do but a lot of bars and nightlife. Oh and we did Kareoke, there's some nice pics of Dave doing "Ghostbusters". Hopefully we'll get our flight to Hong Kong figured out and then we'll arrive there on Wednesday, again if all goes as planned.

Beijing and The Wall

I'm in Shanghai now and just uploaded some more pictures so here goes. Trying to book flights to Hong Kong and its a bit tricky. The Great Wall was great and we took a 3hr hike along it which made for some nice pics and a better experience than just looking at it.

Some Pictures and a Short Blurb.

We've been in Beijing for a few days now and although I'm most definitely in a foreign land I'm feeling pretty comfortable kicking around Beijing. We've done most of the touristy things been to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (as per some pictures) and Beihai Lake where there's that white Buddhist structure. We're hoping to go to the Great Wall on Monday and leave for Shanghai on Thursday so we'll have been in Beijing a solid week. The weather has been fantastic and I'm pinking nicely. It's just gone 1am here and I'm a bit tired so I'll update more later I only really wanted to do this to put up some pictures. I'm terrible at taking any with me in them so I'll try and improve on that but here are some pictures of where I've been for the past few days.

Testing A Slideshow of Pictures

Here's a couple pictures of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in Beijing where I'm going to be in less than 19hrs.

Costs on Departure.

It's April 30th and I'm leaving for the airport at 4:30am on May 1st which gives me a grand total of 19.5hrs before I'm at the airport with everything I need (I hope.)

I've spent a bit more on some bits and bobs, like money belt, water bottle, First Aid kit and had a few more bigger expenses.

$42 on Doxycycline or in lamens terms, Malaria pills (15 days worth), they make you photosensitive but its better than the ~$150 you'd spend on Malarone (another alternative).
$24 on Ciprofloxacin it's for severe diarrhea, I'm praying I never need to use this one.
$44 on a backup battery for my Canon camera should it die when I desperately want a picture or if something breaks, yada yada.

And I spent a whole bunch of money on last minute clothes, boxers, contact lenses, and a lot of sunscreen, Lord knows I need it.
$400

Total: $510

Grand Total: $3004

That's not too bad really considering more than half of that total is airfare and insurance. Although its just as funny that I may end up only spending $3000 on the ground in three months. I'm hoping my money can reach that far but we'll wait and see.

I'm going to try and post some random pictures of my backpack to test how I might put pictures up here. If it's easy and it works this will be where I post them for the duration of the trip, if not maybe Facebook but we'll see.

Costs so far.

Here's a list of the major things I've spent money on for the trip:

$1303 for the airfare on United Airlines from YVR to Beijing and return from Bangkok to YVR.
$ 271 for multi-trip travel insurance with BCAA
$ 126 for vaccinations for Typhoid Fever and Hep A, there's more to come still.
$ 100 for my 6 month multiple entry travel visa to China
$ 340 for my Canon Elph SD600 digital camera with 2GB SD Card
$ 87 to renew my Canadian passport

Total: $2107

I've also had the luck to have some good parents and awesome friends to buy me things I've needed for my trip.

$ 130 for a pair of Salomon trail running shoes. (Thank you Ali!!! My feet will thank you!)
$ 222 for my 80L Asolo Navigator backpack. (Thank you Mum!)
$ 35 for my Lonely Planet guide Southeast Asia on a Shoestring. (Thank you Ali again!)

New Total: $2494

So thankfully I've been preparing long enough to have had a birthday and Christmas to stockpile items from friends and family those are definitely the best and I had to include them because they are all being used daily on the trip.

I may be forgetting some things but I think that's all I've got so far. I'm also going to have to buy malaria pills and probably another vaccination for Cholera/Traveller's Diahrea called Dukoral and those two things are likely to cost just over $100. That's all for now.

Getting it all Together for the Journey

I'm travelling to China and South East Asia for three months starting on May 1st, curiously one of the big Chinese holidays celebrating the communist workers. I'm going with one good friend Dave, and we'll likely spend about a month in China and two months in the South East Asian countries but really we have no idea and watching this space you'll find out where and when we get everywhere. Of course this assumes that I can find internet cafés everywhere and that I actually stick to my guns and report back while I'm, hopefully, having a little too much fun, and everything else.