My past 6 months. *lots of pics, not for 56k*

[Phil]

Well some of you may know I had been away travelling round the world for the last 6 months by myself pretty much. I said I would post some pics so here a few.

 

 

 

I've tried to upload a few from each place, but didn't want to bore you lot too much with holiday snaps. If you want to see some more in detail I can always post different ones in higher detail (taken with my crappy camera though)

 

I'll try to provide some commentary with them too, but please ask if you want to know something.

 

 

 

[hide=Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand]I started my first month in South East Asia. Hong Kong was first for 4 days, which was long enough I thought.

 

Was pretty cool just walking in amongst all the skyscrapers. In the photos - Downtown from Kowloon

 

 

 

 

The Big Buddha - had to queue for hours just to see this. Hundreds of Chinese tourists were here. Think it was worth it though.

 

 

 

 

Loved the little lanes running off the streets. Packed between towereing skyscrapers.

 

 

 

 

The nightly light show of downtown from Kowloon.

 

 

 

 

I spent about 4 days in Singapore then. Was fun seeing some things there like Raffles Hotel and having a Singapore Sling - which was quite tasty really. Don't have too many exciting photos from here.

 

Moved on by bus into Malaysia and up to Melaka. Very historic place with a few nice buildings.

 

 

 

 

Then up to Kuala Lumpur. Huge city. Didn't do too much here really.

 

The Petronas Towers

 

 

 

 

View of KL from the KL Tower

 

 

 

 

After that is the island of Penang on the west coast of Malaysia. Another historic city.

 

Met a nice Austrian guy here and we walked up Penang Hill, which was quite a hike especially in the humidty and heat.

 

 

 

 

We then walked down to a Chinese temple called Kek Lok Si. Was pretty huge and quite impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

Then on again up the coast and to another island, Langkawi. This place was the picture perfect beach type place with warm sea

 

 

 

 

Moving on northwards and into Thailand - Trang, Krabi then the island of Ko Phi Phi Don.

 

 

 

 

This island was badly affected by the 2004 tsunami in the area, and an estimated 3 to 4000 people died on the island. By the time I was there the island had pretty much recovered, but there were still little things reminding us of it.

 

Picture of the island after the tsunami posted on a church on the island.

 

 

 

 

That aside this island was one of my favourite places I visited. Saw Phi Phi Ley - the island where they filmed "The Beach" was pretty cool. Met a great bunch on folk and had a good time with the Chang. Ended up spending a week here and was sad to leave at the end. But time to move on.

 

 

 

The notorious tourist resort of Phuket was my next desitination. Didn't particulary like it though it was an eye-opener with all it's seedy bars and streets...

 

 

 

 

Then a dash up to Bangkok via Ranong and Chumphon and an overnight train in 3rd class with the locals.

 

Bangkok was a huge, mad city. Loved the old temples, monuments and things, loads of them there to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though the traffic wasn't so great. Gridlocked most of the time.

 

[/hide]

 

 

 

[hide=Australia]Next on my travels was Australia for the next 3 months. I began in Melbourne and met sister and her fiance there who were doing a little travelling also. Out of everywhere I've been I'd have to say it was the best city for me. If I was to move anywhere it would probably be here. Something always going on here. The weather wasn't so great though more like home as I arrived in April, the begginging of their winter season.

 

Anyway I joined my sister in a rent car and drove to Sydney, passing through lots of interesting places on the way.

 

Including a camp with friendly Kangeroos

 

 

 

 

Sydney I met up with a friend from uni and ended up joining them in renting a camper van and driving back to Melbourne via Canberra this time.

 

Good fun these road trips. Managed to fit in the Great Ocean Road which has a lot of great scenery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in Melbourne I met up with Tanya - an ex? tipiter, and her boyfriend, was fun meeting them. Also managed to see Ramsay St. - from the tv programme Neighbours (I think only British and Oz people would know about that?) Still lots of rain here.

 

 

 

Flight to Perth here at the begging in of May. (bit strange here since I am from Perth Scotland, it was good confusing everyone with that) Nice city but not really for me, not sure why. Lovely view from the huge parks they have though.

 

 

 

 

Got on a tour bus to travel up the west coast for the next couple of weeks. Was travelling with the same bunch of people for that amount of time and made some really good friends who I'll probably stay in contact with for years. I think the people really made the west coast such good fun.

 

Lots to see on the west coast but it's not over touristy. If you go to Oz I'd recommended it.

 

 

 

Lots of scenery including Nature's Window

 

 

 

 

Karijini National Park, lots of gorges. The pictures don't do it justice really.

 

 

 

 

Me with some of the group on 80 mile beach south of Broome.

 

 

 

 

Sunset on Cable beach at Broome. Amazing beach.

 

 

 

 

And up near Darwin feeding crocs in a river.

 

 

 

 

Could have posted a million photos of drunken folk but thought better of it ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Next up was the east coast - From Cairns I travelled by Greyhound down the coast eventually ending up at Sydney. Stopping off at some places along the way. Mission Beach, Airlie Beach, Hervey Bay, Noosa, Brisbane, and Byron Bay.

 

Did a few things on the way down.

 

 

 

A few days sailing and living aboard a yacht in the Whitsunday Islands. Awesome scenery and great beaches like Whitehaven Beach.

 

 

 

 

From Hervey Bay I joined a group and did a self drive trip round Fraser Island for a few days.

 

The SS Maheno which ran aground years ago.

 

 

 

 

Our lovely 4x4 which I was lucky enough to drive on some of Fraser's beaches.

 

[/hide]

 

 

 

[hide=New Zealand]Next up New Zealand for a month. Got a great view to start with on the flight in.

 

 

 

 

Flew into the South Island and immediately headed for Queenstown as I'd heard that's the place to be, which was true. Nice little town set in some of New Zelands highest mountains. I tried to get a job here but couldn't as everyone was trying to the same and stay for the ski season.

 

Ended up getting a tour (Kiwi Experience) and seeing the rest of the South Island, where's there's lots more to see. Met some great people along the way.

 

 

 

edit* Nearly forgot - Had time in Queenstown to fit in a 15,000ft skydive. Was very fun. Would do it again if I had the chance.

 

 

 

 

Milford Sound (really a fjord) with amazing views.

 

 

 

 

 

Franz Josef glacier which we did full days walk up onto.

 

 

 

 

Then went to Auckland and would have loved to see more of the North Island but I couldn't as by this point I was broke, so bring on Fiji and some helpful loans from my family :P[/hide]

 

 

 

[hide=Fiji & USA]Only spent a few days on Fiji, was too expensive and touristy for my liking to be honest. It has some great beaches, but to be honest I had done the whole beach thing in Thailand and Oz. Ah well I went on a day trip to a little desert island called Mala Mala, was very nice here.

 

 

 

 

I then flew onto LA from Fiji where I was spending a month and travelling across it. I ended up seeing LA(Holywood), San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, Boston and Maine.

 

 

 

LA was just mad, so huge and it's not the easiest places to get around. ended up doing some touristy stuff like tours. Was good seeing Hollywood and Universal Studios though.

 

SF next where I ended up meeting up with Ami (ForsakenMage) and Necro from these forums for a couple of days. Was good seeing them also. We ended up going to Pier 39

 

 

 

 

and the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

 

 

 

Also manged to see Alcatraz whilst I was there.

 

 

 

 

 

I flew to Las Vages next which was crazy also. Thank goodness I was only there for a few days otherwise I think I would have lost all my money. Got a trip to the Grand Canyon which I really thought was amazing. Seeing it in person is so much better than seeing the photos.

 

 

 

 

Then onto New York. Now I think everyone knows everything about New York :P Great city. Loved just relaxing in Central Park.

 

NY at night from the Empire State Building.

 

 

 

 

Next few days was in Boston. Another lovely city, lots of cool buildings here. Definitely worth a visit. I then headed on upto Maine where I met Nik from these forums. Ended up staying with him for 5 days. End of my trip I was pretty broke so I crashed on his fold out sofa and we got drunk with his friends most nights. Fun Fun.[/hide]

 

 

 

 

 

Well I think that's pretty much it. Sorry for keeping you so long. Feel free to send some abusive pms if I bored you out of your skulls or if you were on 56k. :)

 

Also please ask some questions if you like and I will try my best to answer them.

 

 

 

One last thing - Yes I think it was worth it. You should do it if you are thinking about it.

[ThurinEthir]

WELCOME BACK PHIL! (...Wonders if you even know who I am. Probably not. But I know you. : )

 

Has it really been 6 months already? Wow. It sounded like an amazing trip back then, and from looking at those pictures, it looks like it was an amazing trip.

 

My dad's side of the family (Including my dad) is from Hong Kong, it's a pity I've never been there. Anyway, too bad you didn't stop by Taiwan. :P

 

You have some incredible pictures, and I love looking at landscape...Especially mountains, for some reason.

 

Anyway, what did you do in Boston? Just wondering, as I want to know what tourists exactly do when they're here.

 

Glad to know you had a great trip, I'd love to do something like that one day, or at least go to some of those places. (Outside of the US, the only one I've been to is Singapore...When I was 2... :? )

[Phil]

Anyway, what did you do in Boston? Just wondering, as I want to know what tourists exactly do when they're here.

 

 

Of course I remember you and thanks :)

 

I met a few people in the hostel in Boston and ended up getting a tour pass for a one of those open-top buses that run round the city. It included Harvard and MIT and a boat trip. The ticket lasted 2 days so we saw quite a bit of the city. Also liked just sitting in Boston common and watching random things like an open air cinema there! Lots of pretty cool buildings in Boston too.

[cadburys_egg]

Slight bit of tl;dr - I didnt notice you mentioning it - but how much did it cost you overall? And what sort of accommodations did you get? And, finally, was there a noticeable language barrier in the days you spent in SEA? Im not too well informed of how promoted English is there [it doesnt look too huge, but that may be because of built-up tourist areas or such].

 

Welcome back, I suppose, id like to do an extended time of travelling one day.

[Phil]

how much did it cost you overall? And what sort of accommodations did you get? And, finally, was there a noticeable language barrier in the days you spent in SEA? Im not too well informed of how promoted English is there [it doesnt look too huge, but that may be because of built-up tourist areas or such].

 

Thanks. I'm not sure on the exact amount. One thing I need to sort out properly is my finances. I think around the £8000 mark, It can't be far off that.

 

I had no problem with the languages. Most people in the areas I went to spoke English, though somtimes poorly but still well enough for me to get by. Worst place for that would probably have been just into the Thai border, not a lot of English written or spoken about the place.

 

I stayed at backpacker hostels mainly. In Malaysia and Thailand though it was cheap enough to stay in a hotel room most of the time.

[llcoolguy972]

Why did you go? I've always wanted to kinda drop off the map for like a year and just wander the globe lol. Dunno if that's what your intentions were. And I dunno if Pier 39 is like 'the' pier to go to if you're in SF, but it's so strange cause I just went to Cali like two months ago, and when we were in San Fran, we spent a day on Pier 39. How did you like Alcatraz? We went there too and I thought it was pretty amazing. I would've rather had a person give us a tour, but an audio one was still cool. :

[Range_This11]

You just completed one of my life goals, man. Except substitute Greece in there along with Egypt. NZ looks like the place I would have liked to go the most. I took a trip out to NYC 4 years ago and absolutely loved the city, but I hated the Empire State Building (very afraid of heights :ohnoes: ) and the 90 mph winds swaying the building just didn't do it for me though haha.

[tripsis]

Fantastic pictures - thank you for posting these! It looks like you had a great time! :D *wants to go to Australia*

[Jaziek]

some of those pictures are breathtaking. The Nature's window one and the one of NY at night in particular. It sounds like you had one hell of a time. Its something I'd really love to do sometime, the sooner the better.

[Deiophobus]

Excellent pictures, I had fun looking through them heh

 

 

 

I've been to Australia and New Zealand, but not to any of the other places. I don't remember much from New Zealand though; was there when I was 2 years old.

 

 

 

I was also going to ask about the language barrier, but it seems like you already answered it.

 

 

 

Anyway, looks like you enjoyed yourself quite a lot.

[Phil]

Cheers all.

 

 

 

Why did you go? I've always wanted to kinda drop off the map for like a year and just wander the globe lol. Dunno if that's what your intentions were. And I dunno if Pier 39 is like 'the' pier to go to if you're in SF, but it's so strange cause I just went to Cali like two months ago, and when we were in San Fran, we spent a day on Pier 39. How did you like Alcatraz? We went there too and I thought it was pretty amazing. I would've rather had a person give us a tour, but an audio one was still cool. :

 

Why not? :P I just wanted to see some of the world before it's too late and I'm stuck in a job for the rest of my life. I've always been interested in far away lands so decided this was the thing to do. Both my sisters have done similar things so it was very easy for me to just do it without too much thought.

 

Pier 39 is one of the major tourist attractions in SF. Was good to see it. Enjoyed the audio tour on Alcatraz, thought it was better than a human led tour as you got to hear all the different sound effects and you could walk around at your own pace and not run around after someone. That audio tour was a highlight of Alcatraz for me. I think it has even won some awards.

 

 

 

 

 

edit - I forgot one picture from New Zealand there. Added it in now.

[Zygimantas]

Wow, I would like to travel the world like that :

 

 

 

I bet you had lots of fun \

[aquariusman]

That picture of New Zealand from the plane blew my mind, along with a few others. Seems like it was an absolutely amazing trip, definitely making me want to do my own of sorts after high school.

 

 

 

I guess it's time to start saving up :lol:

[trapical]

Phil -

 

 

 

Welcome back man, I love Oz, and those pictures made me want to go back some day. I was interested that you didn't like Perth I haven't been to that side of Australia but was planning to study abroad in Perth (but it never went though). I hear the endless beaches there are like nothing else you have ever seen, and the standard of living is quite high. Oh and speaking of Australia, did you have any meat pies there? The ones I had in Cairns were amount the most succulent things I have ever had the pleasure of consuming.

 

 

 

Hong Kong is also a great city to see. I could spend all day just walking those streets passing the mercantile capital of the world. New York and London are the true centers of world trade of course, but there its all just digital and paper wealth. In Hong Kong you can see stores and buyers that just stretch on for miles upon miles in every direction.

 

 

 

Anyway, nice to have you back, those global trips can really change a man for the better and allow him to see situations in a more global light. Good luck with everything~

[Phil]

Welcome back man, I love Oz, and those pictures made me want to go back some day. I was interested that you didn't like Perth I haven't been to that side of Australia but was planning to study abroad in Perth (but it never went though). I hear the endless beaches there are like nothing else you have ever seen, and the standard of living is quite high. Oh and speaking of Australia, did you have any meat pies there? The ones I had in Cairns were amount the most succulent things I have ever had the pleasure of consuming.

 

Thanks man.

 

I don't know what it was about Perth, I met others who loved it there (maybe I was just angry that it stole our name:P). There was maybe parts that I missed. I just preferred Melbourne and Sydney over it. Don't get me wrong though I absolutely loved the journey northwards from there, where the beaches stretch most of the coastline. I'd say the standard of living was generally high in all the major cities that I saw on Oz.(Well the prices of things tended to be that way)

 

Meat pies! Oh what a treat, I'd nearly forgotten about them, I agree with you about them. :P

[1_man_army]

I hate you more with every pic. Seriously though, it looked like an awesome trip. The picture of the Petronas Towers looked surreal. Welcome back.

[Cyco_Reborn]

Wow, looks like you had fun!!! Those Towers look really awesome!!!

[warren211]

You're lucky, I've always wanted to tour the world.

 

 

 

You shoulda stopped by Chicago. Although it probably doesn't have much to see since you went to New York and Kuala Lumpur, it's still an awesome place to be.

[Rarex]

great trip. made me wanna go to australia some day

 

 

 

:D

[How2PK]

Phil! You're the man! Got nothing more to say now. Just looked at the photos and it looks so amazing! I will read the stories to them tomorrow. : What a hero you are!

[BlueLancer]

Great pics and travel record 8-) Thanks for sharing... If anything you could've included even more pictures, hehe... Wish you had fun in those places. Definitely looking forwards to visiting NZ in the future too.

[evil_mumm_ra]

man, if you'd have stopped by chicago, i and a few others woulda stopped by to see you. it looks amazing. i won't be able to do anything like that anytime soon, maybe once i'm retired.

[warri0r45]

Wow, awesome pics, Phil. Glad you liked Aus and our meat pies. :P

 

 

 

I'd love to do something similar some day.

[mrpez]

how did you afford to travel so much?

 

 

 

pier 39 is a great place. ive been there before and it can be entertaining for a long time.

 

 

 

its a shame you didnt come to orange county or southern california. best beaches in america (except maybe hawaii). if you ever manage to get back to america pay a visit to a Six Flags rollercoaster park, specifically Magic Mountain in southern california.

[Kaphias]

[hide=pic][/hide]

 

Wow, I've stood RIGHT THERE! Might even have my picture from when I was there... back in 2001.

 

 

 

Lots of great places, glad you had fun Phil. ;)