Wrong Way Round t'World

12/10/2016

90. Home time!

A pie and chips, bottle of champagne and half a bottle of whisky later and I'm home to see my wonderful parents!

After 354 days of travelling around the world it's time to head home. 592.5 hours of travelling by bus and train, 56 hours of flights, 22 days of boat trave ...

10/10/2016

89. Brno - Wine, walking and lots of tasty food!

So tomorrow is home time, not sure how this suddenly happened!

So my final long stop of my round the world trip was in Brno where I was able to meet up with Matt, who is cycling through Europe. We were just in time for a...

09/10/2016

My last few days of my round the world trip have been spent exploring Brno and areas near by, more specifically lots of tasty wine, burçak, cheese and castles.

05/10/2016

Great time exploring the old streets of Prague and getting a good insight into Czech beer with Marcela and Radek!

Here's also a slightly rainy vlog from the Old Town Square: https://youtu.be/NPusZOs4N0U

04/10/2016

A few photos of the beautiful and serene Slovenia.

30/09/2016

87. Slovenia - Beautiful Maribor & Ptoj

Really enjoyed the small part of Slovenia I've visited, nothing to do with the cheap and plentiful wine!

Maribor lies in Slovenia's north east and is a pretty town surrounded by vineyards. It's also home to the world's oldest grape vine at 450 years old! Not far...

27/09/2016

86. The Glory of Graz

Vlog from the inner courtyard of Graz's Landhaus, or County Council.

Graz is a beautiful renaissance city in the south east of Austria. With beautiful local countryside and plenty of museums as well as a very attractive centre...

27/09/2016

Had a lovely time in Graz catching up with my old friend Eva and former project partner Rene as well as exploring the beautiful building facades in the centre, the Schlossberg and Bärenschutzklamm!

Next stop the wine capital of Slovenia, Maribor!

22/09/2016

85. Goodbye Türnitz!

After many Wanderungen in the area of Türnitz and on bits of the Via Sacra to Mariazell it's sadly time to say goodbye to Sarah and her village!

After more than a week staying with my good friend Sarah in Niederösterreich and enjoying the many lovely walks of the area as well as the Mariazellerbahn, i...

17/09/2016

84. Niederösterreich - The Long Road to Lilienfeld

"It'll become flat round the next bend" and "Tree roots are nature's handles" were mine and Sarah's motivators for our 12 mile hike from Türnitz to Lilienfeld in the lower alpine region of Niederösterreich.

After 11 months outside of Europe I arrive in Austria to see my good friend Sarah in the small village of Türnitz in Niederösterreich. There's lots of walks ...

14/09/2016

Grüß Gott aus Österreich! Made it to the picturesque village of Türnitz with lovely lower alpine scenery and a Sarah reunion!

13/09/2016

After 11 months travelling the Caribbean, South America, New Zealand, Australia and South East Asia it's time to head back to Europe for a little jaunt there!

Had a last night on Khao San Road as you can see here: https://youtu.be/MBZ7COyMoIU

10/09/2016

Time to say good bye to Cambodia after staying a little longer than anticipated! From the hectic Phnom Penh to the sleepy riverside town of Kampot, the almost untouched island of Koh Rong Sanloem and the temples of Siem Reap here are a selection of photos.

09/09/2016

82. Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

With only 4 days to go before flying back to Europe I've ended Asia with the spectacular ruins of Angkor Wat and many other temples of this impressive Khmer city!

An impressive last stop in Asia, Angkor Wat is the largest temple in the world covering a square kilometre. Although there are many more temples across the a...

05/09/2016

81. Koh Rong Samloen - Island Escape

Had a great tropical island escape!

Quite untouched as yet, Koh Rong Samloen is a beautiful island just off Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

28/08/2016

80. Phnom Penh: Eclipse Sky Bar

Cheapest sky bar I've found in Asia!

Phnom Penh is an interesting way to start a trip in Cambodia with a trip to the haunting S21 prison, a former school, and the Killing Fields where many thous...

25/08/2016

79. Hectic Ho Chi Minh City

Made it out of Vietnam and into Cambodia! Going to be a rather thought provoking few days though with a visit to Ho Chi Minh's War Remnants Museum about the Vietnam War and the destruction it caused as well as a trip to the Killing Fields outside of Phnom Penn.

The last stop on my north to south journey through Vietnam. As well as the interesting but harrowing War Remnants Museum there's lots of shopping and traffic...

19/08/2016

78. Night Bus from Hoi An

On a scooter for 100km in Vietnam - sure! Having done the Top Gear Hoi van Pass it was time do very little except get fitted for a suit in Hoi An.

After an interesting and slightly challenging drive on a scooter from Hue to Hoi An over the Hoi Van Pass as seen on Top Gear it was time to chill out. Lots ...

11/08/2016

77. Phong Nha - Rather Dark Paradise Cave

After some indecision I'm glad I stopped off in Phong Nha to see one of the largest cave networks in the world, not to mention one of the most beautiful called Paradise Cave. Though I have to say it was topped by the zip lining, mud bathing, kayaking, water jumping experience of the Dark Cave! Not to mention yet another great group of people :-)

Forgive the darkness!

This video looked a lot lighter when recording! However we were in a cave, Paradise Cave to be precise, which is in the recently opened area of Phonh Nha. Th...

08/08/2016

76. Halong Bay - Natural Wonder of the World

Beautiful boat trip around Halong Bay, one of the wonders of the natural world. Impressive limestone karsts rise up out of the water forming a wall of green between city and sea.

Stunning Halong Bay in the north east of Vietnam is classed as s natural wonder of the world and you can easily see why. With its limestone karsts towering o...

08/08/2016

75.b. Destruction on the way to Sapa

Didn't make it to Sapa because we were hit by a typhoon which caused a lot of damage. After being evacuated from our bus to the hospital to stay safe we tried to make our way to the nearest town the following morning. Here's just a small shot of the destruction it caused on the mountain road.

So I didn't make it to Sapa, had 22km to go when what I believe was a typhoon struck causing the roads to collapse, trees to fall, land slides, rock falls, t...

05/08/2016

Might not be making it to Sapa for trekking after our buses got caught in torrential rain, with the roads turning into rivers. At 3:30am we were evacuated from the buses into a local hospital to take shelter.

Dry noodles and soya milk for breakfast it is!

03/08/2016

75. Ninh Binh - Trang An

Made it to Vietnam and now have a flight back to Europe booked!

First stop off on Vietnam is Ninh Binh, also known as the Halong Bay on land. Beautiful karst hills rise out of lush green rice fields.

28/07/2016

74. Phonsavan: The Mysterious Plain of Jars

I've made it to one of the most heavily bombed areas of Laos as a result of the USA's Secret War where bombing missions were sent out every 8 minutes for a staggering 9 years. Meaning Laos received more bombs than were used in the entirety of WWII by all sides.

Amazingly this 2,500 year old site (actually there are many of them) has managed to just about survive. Spread across the area are gigantic stone jars intermingled with bomb craters and UXOs (unexploded ordinance).

The area around Phonsavan is one of the most heavily bombed areas in the world as a result of the US Secret War in Laos where hundreds of bombs were dropped ...

26/07/2016

Vang Vieng has been a highlight of Asia so far: beautiful waterfalls, stunning limestone karsts, walks to unknown places including a fall into a soggy rice paddy..., tubing down the river, tubing through a cave, kayaking and an attempt at rock climbing... Not to mention plenty of cycling on dodgy bikes and loads of great people!

Vang Vieng it's been a pleasure and I hope to see you again!

25/07/2016

73. Vang Vieng - Not just a Party Town

Laos didn't originally tick my boxes but it seems I'm still here now that Vang Vieng has changed my opinion and given me lots to do!

After not such a good impression of Laos on arrival Vang Vieng had soon changed my opinion! No longer the party town it was several years ago, Vang Vieng had...

20/07/2016

72. Laing Prabang - Kaungsi Waterfalls

Having arrived in Luang Prabang UNESCO world heritage city on the 2 day slow boat from the Thai border we had an interesting start to Laos...

A common way to reach Laos from Thailand is by the 2 day slow boat down the Mekong which deposits people just outside the UNESCO city of Laung Prabang, famou...

12/07/2016

Arrived successfully in Laos by public bus, tuk tuk, shuttle bus between Thai and Laos immigration and another tuk tuk!

It was nice getting to know you Thailand, next up: 2 day slow boat to Luang Prabang!

11/07/2016

71. Chiang Rai - Singha Park

Decided to spend a few days exploring Chiang Rai near to the border with Laos before leaving Thailand and it was definitely worth the stop off!

Heading towards the border with Laos I decided to spend a few days in the Golden Triangle city of Chiang Rai. There aren't so many backpackers here but there...

10/07/2016

Everyone I met in Pai ended up staying longer than expected, me included!

Now it's time to head [slowly] towards the Laos border after meeting so many great people and thoroughly enjoying a week in Pai.

01/07/2016

69. Oh My Chiang Mai!

A cycle in the 34°C sticky heat down a busy Thai road was worth it to plunge into the waters of Chiang Mai's "Grand Canyon".

Ended up spending longer than anticipated in the walled northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. Waterfalls, treks, elephants to look after, cooking classes and tem...

30/06/2016

After 6 fun filled days it's time to leave Chiang Mai and the friendly comforts of Thai Thai hostel to head up hundreds of hairpin bends to Pai.

28/06/2016

After a quick visit to the ancient city ruins of Ayuthaya, a former Thai capital, I've now been exploring the walled city of Chiang Mai for the past few days. Can see me spending longer here than amticipated!

26/06/2016

68. Moving on from Myanmar: Mandalay

A little after the event but here's the last Myanmar vlog set in a temple containing the world's largest book... it's actually hundreds of carved tablets each set in their own mini stupa!

After 3 weeks exploring the temples and towns of Myanmar it's time to head back to Thailand. Last stop is Mandalay with a quick few nights in the colonial mo...

23/06/2016

After an action packed final week in Myanmar it's time to say goodbye and maybe it's time to have a slight rest from temples!

The last week has involved a lot of bikes: pedal bikes, e-bikes and scooters... not to mention very shaky trucks to get around and a very hot climb back up from a huge waterfall.

Now back to Thailand!