The highlights continue to be meeting people – namely visiting the people growing vegetables at Ranakpur and 4 Delhi street kids who will stay in my mind forever.

There is way more to India than just the Taj Mahal and the numerous temples.  If you want a travel challenge, this is the place to visit.

Favourite Place:-

Paul – Ranakpur
Amanda – Rishikesh
Caitlin – Shimla
Georgie – Jaisalmer
Ashlea – Shimla
Michael – Jaisalmer

Favourite thing we did:-

Paul – Visiting people’s homes at Ranakpur
Amanda – Tiger safari
Caitlin – Camel safari
Georgie – Camel safari
Ashlea – Camel safari
Michael – Camel safari

Favourite food:-

Paul – Chicken biryani, Jodhpur
Amanda – Vegetable biryani, on the road to Rishikesh
Caitlin – Happineez butterscotch ice cream, Jaipur
Georgie – Tuna Subway, Shimla
Ashlea – Vegetarian pizza at Pizza Hut, Jaipur
Michael – Nachos at Little Buddha Cafe, Rishikesh

Thing we disliked:-

Paul - The chaos
Amanda – Touts at the Taj Mahal
Caitlin – Old Delhi because “I didn’t feel safe”
Georgie – The shopkeepers
Ashlea – Rubbish everywhere
Michael – Everything was messed up

1. The Chinese people are incredibly friendly and will go out of their way to help you;
2. The Beijing subway is the cleanest, most organised subway I’ve ever been in;
3. You have to put your bags thru an xray machine at every subway and attraction in Beijing;
4. Facebook does not work;
5. You can have ox’s penis in a hotpot(!);
6. There are 77 McDonald’s stores in Beijing city.

Favourite thing we did:-

Paul – The Wall
Amanda – The Wall
Caitlin – Terracotta Warriors, Xi’an
Georgie – The Great Wall
Ashlea – Bamboo rafting on the Yulong River, Yangshuo
Michael – The Great Wall

Favourite food:-

Paul – Double cooked pork at Sims & Stuffed green peppers at Yangshuo
Amanda – Best Chinese food was everything at Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel, Chengdu - consistently brilliant (Pizza Hut was also refreshingly nice)
Caitlin – The Saddle Mexican Cantina, Beijing & Pizza Hut
Georgie – Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel & Pizza Hut
Ashlea – The Saddle & Pizza Hut
Michael – The Saddle & Pizza Hut

Favourite Place:-

Paul – Beijing
Amanda – Beijing
Caitlin – Beijing
Georgie – Yangshuo
Ashlea – Beijing
Michael – Beijing

Thing disliked the most:-

Paul -  Multiple admission fees to almost every sight in Beijing
Amanda – smokers on the train and in restaurants
Caitlin – public spitting
Georgie – spitting
Ashlea – public toilets at Xingping
Michael – cruise on the Li River

 Before we went to Cambodia we were warned that the locals basically view you as a walking ATM and while there were plenty of booksellers and beggars etc we didn’t think it was really any different from Thailand in that respect.  Vietnam on the other hand was really where the walking ATM analogy should be used.

The hotels, travel agents, tour guides, book sellers, taxi drivers all wanted more.  “You are rich.. you can afford more.. so you give me more!”  That was the attitude everywhere we went – irrespective of whether the service or whatever we were paying for was up to scratch or overpriced by local standards etc etc.  It got really painful after a while and after our Halong Bay cruise, where we got well and truly sick of it, we were really looking forward to leaving for China.

Saying that though, we did enjoy our time in NhaTrang, Dalat and HoiAn and the Mekong Delta was well worth the trip.

Favourite thing we did:

Paul – Cruise to the floating markets on the Mekong
Amanda – VinPearl Land, Nha Trang
Caitlin – Riding motorbikes on Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay
Georgie – VinPearl
Ashlea – VinPearl
Michael – VinPearl

Favourite Place:

Paul – Dalat
Amanda – NhaTrang
Caitlin – Dalat
Georgie – Dalat
Ashlea – NhaTrang
Michael – NhaTrang

Favourite Food:

Paul - Fried squid in butter at the Rainbow Cafe, Hanoi
 Amanda – Crispy pork at the Kangaroo Cafe, Hanoi
Caitlin – Spaghetti Bolognese at Hot Tuna Cafe, Hue
Georgie – Crispy pork at the Kangaroo Cafe, Hanoi
Ashlea – Tuna sushi at Louisiane Brewhouse, NhaTrang
Michael – Creamy chicken penne at Little Italy, Hanoi

Thing we disliked most:

Paul – Halong Bay junk cruise
Amanda – Halong Bay junk cruise
Caitlin – Halong Bay junk cruise
Georgie – Halong Bay junk cruise
Ashlea – Halong Bay junk cruise
Michael – Halong Bay junk cruise

Paul – Phnom Penh
Amanda – Siem Reap
Caitlin -Siem Reap
Georgie – Siem Reap
Ashlea – Siem Reap
Michael – Siem Reap

Favourite Food:-

Paul – Khmer curry at Anjali, Phnom Penh
Amanda – Quesadillas in Siem Reap
Caitlin – Enchiladas in Siem Reap
Georgie – Khmer curry at the Khmer Kitchen, Siem Reap
Ashlea – Tacos in Siem Reap
Michael – Chicken wraps in Siem Reap

Favourite thing we did:-

Paul – Visiting the city dump community in Phnom Penh.
Amanda – Driving through the countryside near Siem Reap by tuk tuk.
Caitlin – The market at Siem Reap.
Georgie – Driving through the countryside.
Ashlea – Swimming in the hotel pool.
Michael – Shopping at the Siem Reap market.

Thing disliked most:-

Paul – Evidence of corruption everywhere.
Amanda – The palace walls  symbolise Phnom Penh to me – manicured gardens andwealth on one side but poverty & filth on the other.
Caitlin – Palace.
Georgie - The royal palace.
Ashlea – The palace.
Michael – Girl selling water outside the palace who wanted to practice her Aussie on us by saying – G’day Mate; Aussie! Aussie Aussie! and our personal favourite – A dingotook my baby! over & over & over..

Favourite Place:
Paul – Pan Beach, Krabi.
Amanda – Kanchanaburi
Caitlin – Pan Beach Bungalows.
Georgie – Pan Beach.
Ashlea – Pan Beach Bungalows.
Michael – Kanchanaburi
Most disliked:
Paul – The driver who took us to the seafood restaurant in Bangkok.
Amanda – Being stopped for photos & strangers hugging & kissing the kids.
Caitlin – Thai food.
Georgie – People touching us all the time.
Ashlea – Ladies who kissed me at the temple.
Michael – Frog ladies (tribal ladies selling wooden frogs)