Travel blog

my last night of travels. difficult to sum up my trip. so many amazing experiences...some lows but by far outweighed by all the amazing highs. met so many cool, interesting, and some not so interesting people along the way. its really broadened my view on life and the world and just how lucky i am in life. im so pleased i have done this and would recommend it to anyone. i have now made connections and have friends from all around the world who i know i can visit anytime.

despite this...home is home..and i definately miss the ordinary day to day life at times. cant wait to see u all. ill try not to bore you too much about my travels. anyway....see you all soon. CHOW!!!!

Howard x

hi all,

only 6 days left. excited though sad. arrived in japan just under a week ago. my flight was cancelled so i was at bangkok airport for 13hours overnight and got no sleep whatsoever. finally arrived in osaka after 27 hours of leaving my hostel. the flight had to stop off in indonesia as well. osaka was really interesting. went to namba city and parks for a couple days, saw some shrines and shops. general touristy things. the hostel i stayed at was pretty awfull...2 triple bunkbeds in a closet room and had a horrific asian snorrer so again didnt sleep at all. met some really freindly people on the subway..everyone is so polite i japan..i love it here.

i arrived i tokyo a couple days ago via an overnight bus. took 10 hours and again had absoluetly no sleep. staying in akobonbashi area here. hostel is amazing. met my friend yuji who i met in l.a. he lives here and showed me around the city. brought a couple disposable cameras. went to visit some shrines and temples...saw some really cool architecture aswell. th food here is amazing. had sushi and noodles. went for a few drinks with yuj and his friends...theyre all so freindly. having a great time. looking forward to seeing everyone again.
bye for now.

xx

Arrived back in thailand from laos on the early hours of saturday morning after a 20 hour bus journey.(one thing i wont be missing thats for sure). Watched the fa cup final here in a bar full of pompey fans....it was amazing. went out celebrating afterwards. still cant believe it. been chilling around for last couple days. and heading to japan (osaka) on thursday night. looking forward to a new culture and experience to add to my travels though definately missing home now. not too long!!! uploaded new pics aswell. speak to u soon x

Hello,

Arrived in LAOS about 5/6 days ago. the border crossing was horrific. as was the journey there. had to sleep on a bus with about 100 asians crammed on for 4 hours (2 am til 6 am) as the border crossing was closed (opens at 6) only got 1 hor sleep the whole time and then we had no money for a LAOS Visas which were 25quid. had to borrow some of some asian guy. took about 2 hours to sort everything out...was so stressful. total bus journey was around 24 hoursin the end. arrived in Vientiene the capital of Loas. Its so different to vietnam...alot more relaxed here and less hectic...really like it. didnt do too much in capital. chilled and got a traditrional thai body massage whcih was amaazing. my hip clicked back into its proper place apparently. watched live band in the evenings and pretty much explored during the days. spent 3 days there and go a bus to VANGVIENG...which is where i am at the mo. love it here. its in the mountains next to a river...scenery is amazing and its reallyed chilled out. theyve even got a bar whcih plays famaily guy ALL DAY!!! Amazing!!! went tubing yesterday. basically involved renting a big rubber ring and u float don the river and get off at different bars along the way. each bar has different rope swings and zip wires and everyone basically gets really drunk. played football at one bar. such a fun day. though after the 10th bar we were tubing down the river in pitch black...was a tad scary. then had to hang off the end of a car to get back home and its was pouring with rain...all in all an amazing day out. think we are going to LUANG PROBANG next. north Laos. not sure if were gunna have time for Chang mai anymore as i leave for japan in a week. have to wait and see. ummmm think thats everything!!? p.s. fa cup final on saturday. can u tape it for me mum. thanks! play up pompey! x

Hi All,

Been in Vietnam almost 2 weeks now. currently in Hanoi (capital) where i arrived from Nha trang around a week ago. Had some good and bad times here. Went on a ridiculous boat trip in nha trang which must of had the gayest asian family on it possibly...they were all dancing around in speedos...its was pretty funny/disturbing. it did have a cool floating bar in the water though which turned out to be free. unfortunately i had my camera stolen off me in Nha Trang. some guys on mopeds sneaked it out of my pocket without me realising and then rode off. took me ages in the police station the next day to get a statement for my insurance. met some really cool vietnamese people though since ive been here. hanging out with a few. Then had a 36 hour bus jounrey (2nights)...was so painful...possibly worst journey of my life (even worse than the 10 hour standing train journey to thailand.

Went on a 3 day boat trip to Ha long bay and stayed on cat ba island. Did some kayaking around the thousand islands and slept on a boat for a night. then went mountain biking in the mountains...that was amazing.

Heading to Laos tommorow..anothr 20 hour bus journey. Spending around a week there and then heading to northen thailand to chang mai...hopefully do some elephant riding.

Only 4 weeks left...looking forward to returning and seeing everyone again. missing u all.

Love Howard x

Hi all,

I arrived in Vietnam a couple days ago from Cambodia. Can't remember if i mentioned before that i went to the capital Phnom-Penh for around 4 days. Went to the killing fields there and learnt alot about the history of the wars around 30 years ago. Was a real eye opener and really interesting. Also went to the former torture prison where thousands of people were killed - again slightly stomach churning but interesting all the same. Also shot a PP7 (James bond gun) at a shooting range. Was really cool. My mate also fired an ak47...its so load. We were also offered to fire a bazooka at a cow for only 150 pounds....can u believe that....why would u wanna do that?? Spent a day visiting a couple markets there which was quite cool. not many toursits in cambodia and its overall a really poor country. was a really interesting experience. ive iploaded a load of photos from the temples i went to in Siem Reap...visited the tomb raider temple and a load of other amazing architectural structures from over a thousand years ago. http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardbaker/sets/ (photos). check out the swanky tailer made suite i got. im also looking to get some tailer made shoes in vietnam. and maybe another suit, hah!

Arrived in Vietnam after a 7 hour bus and border crossing. cost 20 quid to get into the country which seems quite expensive - to describe the country so far is quite difficult as ive only been here a couple days, though there are absoultely hunderds and thousands of people riding mopeds arounds...is crazy. u literally have to dodge traffic to cross the road. We're currently staying in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Though we're heading to Nha Trangh (i think it's called) tomorrow which is on the east cost of Vietnam. Should be about an 8 hour bus ride..though im guessing it will probably take around 12 hours.

Ill keep u updated soon.

x

Hello everyone.

Just experience the best new year ever in Bangkok. from the 12th to the 15th they celebrate the Thai new year with a huge water festival which basically involes everyone getting everyone as soaked as possible. just walking down the street was chas with loads of thai people soaking us and rubbing clay all over our face and body. was amazing. we ended up buying a huge water gun each and dressed up as rambo joining in the fun. it goes on all day and night. u literally cant go out side without being wet. Alos as we we are foreign we were prime targets for the Thai's which made it even more funny.

2 days ago after these hectic and fun few days i got a bus to Cambodia (Siem Reap, in the north). the total journey took about 14 hours including the border crossing. The bus was so crammed and had no air-con...it was also spine shudderingly bumpy the whole way. the roads are horrific here. no tarmac....apperently an unknown airline is paying the cambodian government not to fix the roads so people are more inclined to fly to destinations rather than the much cheaper bus alternative. (shocking).

Wnt to see the Ankgor Wat Temple and a load of other temples yesterday. even saw the temple in which Tomb Raider 1 was shot in (first scene with huge robot). mne and rob hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day to take us to all the different places/temples (costing 4 pounds for the whole day). got loads of great photos to show u. the architecture was amazing and so old.

One of the guys i was travelling with lost his passport in Thailand somewhere so is currently stuck there. though me and the other guy came to cambodia. thing hes sorted it now and will be meeting us tonight apparently.

Heading to Phnom-pehn in 2 days which is south of cambodia. another long and bumpy bus ride im pressuming. then we should be heading to Vietnam a few days after that. Still having a great time.

Speak to you soon.

x

Hi everyone...and nan :] ha!

arrived in bangkok about a week ago from KHO TAO...got the ferry to mainland and then an 8 hour bus. Stayed in a cave for my first two nights. wasnt pleasant at all. was a pound a night and had to share a double bed with my two mates. its was like a sweat pit in our room. luckily we found a really nice place to stay with air con and A BED EACH...bit more expensive but can actually sleep now. Ive realised the stories about thai brides is true....so many old sleezy men with young girls...horrible!! been eating the street food and its amazing. had cockroaches, tree worms, grass hoppers and dried frogs...and they tasted suprisingly good. (coackroach was slightly strange). Went on a boat ride around bankok which was cool...saw aload of temples and huge buddahs. When to the the grand palace...though we got kicked out for not wearing trousers (it was about 37 degrees). went to china town yesterday which was pretty interesting.

Brought a taylor made suit, 4 shirts and an overcoat. they are sooo cool and it fits brilliantly. also brought a load of fake dvds and architecture programmes for uni. probabaly gunna buy some more in vietnam. (chepaer apparently). still travelling with sam and rob...gunna be with them till i go to japan. theyre a great laugh and become really good mates with them.

Watched the pompey game in a grimey bar (no sound) though we won and got to the FA CUP FINAL...so brought a fake 3pound pompey shirt to prepare myself for when i watch it (probably be in LAOS by then.

Bad news...my ipod got stolen from my room. me and rob went out and sam was sleeping and someone came in and stole it (unbelievable). im gutted...missing y music loads already.

Heading to cambodia on monday. gunna be staying in siam reap for a few days to see all the temples and things...cant wait. the weathers been sooo hot here...think it was 36 degrees yesterday. sweat factor has been pretty high. anyway... think thats most of the stuff...though im sure ive missed out a load!?

Hope everyones well...missing u all!!!

xxx

Hi everybody! sorry about the delay in writing a new post. so much to catch up on. after kuala lumpur i headed to CAMERON HIGHLANDS (north central malaysia). it rained the whole time, but did some amazing treks through the jungles amd met some aborigionals which was fun. learnt how to fire blow darts aswell, decided to buy a small blow dart made in the forest by some local guy. after a few nights in the highlands we headed to an island off the east coast call PEHRINTIAN ISLAND. It was so tropical...like paradise and really quiet which was a good little break. we chilled there for a few days and then had an epic 26 hour journey to KHO PANGNAN IS THAILAND. I was there for 6 nights and went to the full moon party on the beach which was awsome. Im currently in KHO TAO an island north of kho pangnan. its sooo amazing here. doing some snorkling and went to a mui thai boxing fight last night. was really cool. ive got aso many photos to upload but the internet is too expensive here and too slow to upload so i will try and get them done asap. heading to bangkok soon and have to be out of Thailand in 2 weeks as our visa expires so were gunna go to cambodia from there. Hope everyone is well. i will keep u updated!!

Hi,

Arrived in Southeast asia...bit of a culture shock...and headig in to the unknown. Had an awsome first night. arrived at the hostel from the airport at around 9 30...10 mins later i met a guy from oz in my room and went out with him to meet his architect friend in singapore. she showed us round her architects office....and it was amazing. then she gave us a tour of the city...unfortunately i didnt have a camera. met two english guys (robby C and sam) who ive been with since my first day in singapore. went to china town...explored the city...then to Sentosa island for a day...had a swim...then went out. was quite interesting going out in an asian country. Had a singapore slinger (alcoholic coctail)...supposidly a thing u have to do. And we pretended it was my 28th birthday.....dont ask why!?

After a few days in singapore we decided to bus it to malaysia...we got a super vip bus to Kuala Lumpur (cost around 5 pounds) and took about 8 hours. Been in kuala lumpur for a couple days now...seems an interesting city...though not much to do. not sure where were heading next. probably an island or the coast north malaysia. still having an amazing time....

And portsmouth knocked man uout of the fa cup. Im extatic. watched it in a hostel with a load of man u fans. if i can get a ticket for the final if we get there im gunna get a flight back just to watch it....no way do iwanna miss out on the chance of a life time.....play up pompey. haha!

Laters x