The UK Round-a-Bout

I have no good explanation for neglecting my blog for so long except for the fact that I traded in my Vagabonding ways for about a week and checked into the Casa de Donohue. The life of luxury in suburbia of Alderly Edge with Chey's Aunt Kimmy and fam. Haha. I didn't wear my pack for a week, but did take a few trips around England...and no need to panic I'm already back on the traveling trail. The day trip we took to Conway in North Wales was a treat. Checked out the Castle on the lake and took in the country side for the day.

Conway Castle

Inside the Conway Castle

I broke off on my lone journey for a few days to check out the Lake District. Some of the most extreme landscape England has to offer. Mountains, lakes (duh), snow and waterfalls. Stunning! I hiked for days...I think the trail ran for about 6 miles along the lake and the scenery never got old. Met some Brazilians who were road tripping through England. Pedro, Davi and Daniel...so fun! After our night out, on a whim...and this is what I love about travel... they invited me to join them on their journey to Scotland. Road trip? Sign me up! I actually enjoyed being the token female with the boys who kept me laughing with their antics for the next 3 days. Drove from Windermere to Keswick stopping for the best sites along the way. Pub crawled in Edinburgh, Scotland and followed the free walking tour around the city. What made it even better is our guide looked like a viking strait out of Braveheart...he filled us in on some great stories of Scotland's brutal past. Since I didn't have a camera (got schooled by an 8 year old in Cambodia) I cant post pics, but if Pedro sends me the pics of our journey...they tell all.

The City of Edinbugh

After Scotland I had to begin my journey back South. I decided to take a trip to Newcastle for the day which ended up being quite uneventful. By the time I got there (the night after our pub crawl through Edinburgh) I was beat. I bee-bopped around the city for a bit before i retired in my hostel only to wake up for the first bus back to Manchester. Took forever, but I made it back to suburbia just in time to welcome Chey's Mom to England. Now, I'll pack my pack to head out to London town! This has been a whirl wind through the UK and it ain't over yet!

London Town To Manchester: Life of Luxury

We have made our way back into civilization. A land where there are traffic laws...and drivers actually obey them and where toilets actually flush and you can count on the luxury of toilet paper. It's the simple things in life that I realized I missed the most when traveling in 3rd world countries. Just a few days ago Cheyenne and I completed our tour through Asia and landed in the UK. Chey's Aunt Kimmy swooped us up at Heathrow with the warmest welcome ever in the frigged air of England. We road tripped it into Manchester where we are now and living the life of luxury with the Donohue's. Aunt Kimmy was sweet enough to pack the car with snacks and when we got to their new home in Manchester she got us both PJ's to sleep in since we got in so late...either that or everything we owned smelled like a camel. I would bet on the latter, but either way I lived in those PJ's until i washed everything I own and scrubbed down my body with steel wool.  Thanks Aunt Kimmy! It has been fabulous to actually feel clean again and we have spent this time vegging out with the fam, eating home cooked meals, watching Manchester United Football and getting ready to dive into our next adventure. And BTW the Pro Footballers live in the neighborhood of Alderly Edge. I'm keeping an eye out ;-) In the mean time I'll need to kick the habit of jacking TP form public bathrooms.

 

Hello Neighbor boys

 

Bangkok All Nighter

Just to end South East Asia with a bang in Bangkok we decided to go big. With our flight out of Thailand at 6am Cheyenne and I thought it would be wise to check out of our hotel the night before and spend our night out on the town. Ideas like this always seem like genius until you actually have to execute the plan in the wee hours of the morning, but hey, we'll deal with that when it comes. Until then...it's a party!


Koh San Ro was calling our name that night. This strip of pub lined streets is where you will find the trendy bars, restaurants and lady-boys. We, of course, sought out the live music and bar hopped all night. What a blast!

Koh San Ro, Bangkok

Our cab picked us up at 2:30am, when we were good-n-tipsy, to take us to the airport. International flights require a check in 2 hours before the flight, so getting there 3 hours ahead of time was just for precaution. Plus, it was quite easy to entertain ourselves considering our current state of mind and moments like these are classic when traveling so unconventionally. We checked in and boarded out flight with a whole fleet of tangerine-robed Monks...naturally, and said our goodbyes to South East Asia. It was a great run and a perfect farewell.

Check in with the Monks

Airport delirium

Counties visited in South East Asia: 7- Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia

Countries visited total: 10 New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and India