Bicky's Gap Year Galavant

It might seem strange that I am blogging about California from over 1000 miles away in Texas, but our first 3 weeks in the USA have been so crammed full of fun and excitement that I have barely had a chance to stop and think, let alone write about the things we have been up to. Moreover, unlike Central America and other popular 'traveller' destinations, the US has zero internet cafes so it's actually been impossible to keep you updated. We are at our mate from Nottingham Mark's flat in College Station, Texas, as he is doing a Masters over here at Texas A&M. As such I am using his laptop to try and make up for lost ground. It's going to be pretty tough to cram 3 weeks into a single post so I'll try and do a few to make it more bearable!

So last time I wrote we were about to pick up our campervan in San Francisco. We got to the Cruise America depot and picked up our stunning 25 footer: (http://www.cruiseamerica.com/rent/our_vehicles/standard_rv.aspx) . She has a double bed, a queen size bed above the cabin, and a fold down bed where the table/benches are. Unfortunately I lost at cards and so bagged the fold down bench which is only about 5'2" long! After doing all the necessary paperwork we hit the road and went to Walmart to stock up on food. Sherwood took the wheel first and we headed over towards Yosemite which was our first stop. We ended up driving until about 11pm and ended up staying in a rest stop about an hour away from the park. After a somewhat chilly night's sleep we woke up to a brisk, spring morning and drove the final leg into Yosemite. Driving into the park we soon came across the stunning granite mountains which make up the National Park. Before we had even found our campsite we had stopped about a dozen times to take photos! We parked up and had a wander to the visitor centre to work out what trails we wanted to do as we only had a very short amount of time there. We opted for a 3 hour walk to some waterfalls which gave us stunning views of the famous 'half-dome' peak. Some people say that Yosemite National Park is the most beautiful place on earth and from what we saw it would be pretty hard to disagree. It was truly breatktaking and being there instantlty filled you with a desire top spend more time there. That evening we bough some firewood and built a fire on which we toasted marshmellows to accompany our bangers and mash. The next morning we took a walk around 'mirror lake' which gave a perfect reflection of half dome in the water.

Next came a big drive back over to the west coast where we stopped overnight in Santa Cruz before driving 'Big Sur' the next day. Big Sur is a dramatic, 100-mile section of Californian coastline which is meant to be one of the most scenic drives in the world. It certainly didn't disappoint, even if the van made some of the cornering a little scary. We took a day to do this drive to make the most of it...but also because there was a rockslide half-way which meant we had to wait for 4 hours for it to be cleared! After Big Sur we drove down to LA and parked up in central Hollywood. Hollywood is a bit of a dive, but we went on an open top 'celebrity tour' which was actually really good fun and we saw the famous 'Hollywood' sign as well as various (tacky) celebrity houses. That evening we went to a comedy club which we had pre-booked for and saw a couple of groups do musical-improv where they act out a scene based on the music they had listened to. It was seriously funny and well worth the money. The next day, Sam and Adam went to Santa Monica beach whilst I went to Universal Studios. It was a bit weird going on my own but I'd always wanted to go and had a fun day seeing all the special effects and going on the slightly tame kiddy rides. I even happened to walk past Gordon Brown and family which was a rather surreal experience! When I was done I got a bus down to Santa Monica and met the others before going to see the new 'American Pie' movie which was very good.

Just in case we didn't have enough to do so far, we decided to go and see the LA Angels baseball team play, and we had a great day eating all-you-can-eat American fast food, watching a sport which we didn't really understand! We really were packing it in (the activities I mean, not the food...) Then, in the evening, we drove up to a campsite in Barstow where we had a quiet evening before heading onto Las Vegas the next morning. Arriving in Vegas was very surreal with a full size glass pyramid and sphynx on your left, and a giant Eiffel Tower on your right. We checked into the Imperial Palace hotel right on the strip for $50 a night which had the world's largest classic car collection inside! That evening we wandered the streets, taking in all the sights and watching the famous water-fountain show at the Bellagio hotel.

On our first full day in Vegas, Bones and Sherwood did a skydive (I had to refrain as two skydives in 6 months would have been excessive!) whilst I lazed by the pool. They had an awesome time so were buzzing when they got back so we had a couple of beers in the hot tub before going out for dinner. What followed was a pretty crazy night and we went to a nighclub at Caesar's Palace and gambled a fair few dollars in the casino. The next day was understandably a bit of a write-off, but that evening we went to a show called 'Absinthe' (http://absinthevegas.com/) which was really oustanding. It was a mixture of acrobatics and seriously un-PC comedy - I can't explain how good it was without you being there - but we really loved it and are still quoting bits of the humour to each other now!

After Las Vegas came a visit to the majestic Zion Valley where we did a trail to Angel's Landing which, as you can imagine, was pretty high and gave stunning panoramic views of the valley floor. The trail up there was along a narrow, perilous ridge (a couple of people die every year!) with only a metal chain to hold on to. It was well worth it, although I think we felt a bit relieved when we got down! We woke up the next morning to find that a freak weather storm had hit the area so we had to hit the road to the Grand Canyon to avoid being snowed in. It was a snowy drive but the van handled it well. When we got to the Grand Canyon village it was positively Baltic so we went to the village shop to buy comfort food (I bought a wooly hat!) before finding our campsite. It was so cold that I had to snuggle up with Bones for a couple of nights! Thankfully when we woke up the next morning it was brightening up and by the end of the day most of the snow had melted. We did a 7 mile walk along the south rim of the Grand Canyon which was really awe-inspiring; the Canyon is a mile deep in parts and over 10 miles wide as well. It was so vast you could not quite believe your eyes! Deciding that doing the Canyon by foot wasn't quite adventurous enough, we booked onto a helicopter tour for the next day and spent 25 minutes flying over the vast chasm. Helicopter is really the way to travel! (I have decided that if I ever win the lottery I want to buy a helicopter and learn to fly it!)

Next came a drive to Monument Valley across the Arizona desert. This is only a small national park, but it was well worth the drive as the scenery is completely unique with huge sandstone butts rising out of the barren desert floor.

We stayed here for the day and played a bit of football in the carpark whilst waiting to get some nice pictures of sunset. And then came the start of our drive into Texas...

So I will leave this post there for now to allow you to process what you have just read/wake up if you are half asleep. As I hope I have portrayed, we have been doing a ton of stuff and not wasting a single minute. I will update you on our next leg of the trip in a week or so, but we are loving it here so far!

Hey y'all! I'm writing this from our hostel in San Francisco where we have been for the last 4 days. Adam has joined Sam and me and tomorrow we pick up our campervan to start our roadtrip across the States. But just to backtrack a little...

We arrived into a boiling hot Belize City and got the water taxi to Caye Caulker - a long, thin island on the Belizean reef. It was probably the most laid back place I have ever been to - the island motto is 'Go Slow'. We stayed here for 5 nights and spent most of our time wandering along the sandy streets and topping up our tans. It was my birthday on March 15th so we decided to do our snorkel tour that day. After speaking to a few companies we ended up going with a local man in his late 70s who had been doing snorkel trips on the island his entire life. Unlike the other companies, he did not advertise himself and only got bookings through word of mouth. Having heard great things, we signed up and at 10.30am were sailing away in his boat along with half a dozen others. We did not know entirely what to expect - the man was known locally as 'the fish whisperer' (!) because of his ability to be 'at one' with the fish having snorkelled the reef every day for 70 odd years. After about an hour in the boat, sailing across the azure waters, we arrived at the Hol Chan reserve where we got our fins and masks on and before long were on our way. At the first stop we saw turtles and nurse sharks within minutes of being in the water. We stayed in the water for about an hour, following our guide as he weaved his way between the coral, somehow attracting loads of fish to him as he went. At the end of the first snorkel, as we waited by the side of our boat, a ray came swimming by. Our guide told us that he was going to give us a special treat and bring the ray over to us and that when he did that we should just lay on our backs underwater. What happened next was totally bizarre! He swam to the ocean floor and tapped on the ground. The ray then came swimming up to him, and our guide look the ray by the face and swam over to one of us and proceeded to let it swim over as as we lay on our backs. The ray then swam off and our guide repeated this trick again and again, patting the ground everytime and the ray swimming up to him. It was just like a little puppy! We each endured this strange but amazing sensation of having a ray swimming over us a few times each and by the end of our first snorkel we were already beaming about the day we were having. It was our second stop which really blew us away however. Our guide took us to a spot where nobody else had access and where there was a small fishing boat seemingly throwing bits of cut-up fish into the water. I jumped in first and put my head under only to look up straight away and shout at Sam to get in and see the amazing spectacle that was underneath. Surrounding this boat was a group of about 15 HUGE rays, several large turtles, a barracuda, and a load of fish. It was the biggest collection of marine life I had ever seen, and we were amongst it! To make things even more magical, the entire seabed was covered in a sheet of conch-shells. We stayed here for about 10 minutes, absolutely transfixed. Our guide ever let us stroke the necks of the turtles which were very squidgy despite looking hard and wrinkly. Our third and final snorkel was really great too, though I think our minds were still set on the amazing experience we had just had! I did another short snorkel trip a couple of days later where I saw tons of rays and 3 or 4 nurse sharks which was cool too. So all in all our 5 days in Belize were awesome!

After Belize came a long day travelling up to Tulum in Mexico where we stayed for 2 days. The first day we went to the Tulum ruins which themselves are nothing too amazing, but their location is truly stunning set atop some cliffs overlooking the Carribean sea which is genuinely as bright blue as it looks in the photo. You can walk down some steps to the beach below the cliffs and we stayed here for an hour or so, eating our lunch on the sugar-white sand. The next day Sam and I split up to do separate things. He did a Mexican cooking class at an upmarket restaurant we had a drink at the night before, and had a really good day cooking tortillas and ceviche, as well as trying various tequilas. I on the other hand decided I wanted to put my new Open Water (diving) qualification into action by going cenote (underwater cavern) diving! The Yucutan Peninsula is the only place in the world where you can do this crazy activity, but having seen the pictures online and being blown away, I knew I had to do it. There were 2 other Brits in my group along with our instructor Rodrigo. It was only 10 minutes drive to our first stop - Gran Cenote. After our briefing, we got kitted up and before long were in the crystal clear, fresh water cenote. From the way they described it, I thought that we would be poking around the edges of the large cavern, but not going far into it. I was very wrong! Within minutes of descending underwater, we were weaving ourway through tight, underwater tunnels with only our torches for light. The caverns were lined with stalactites and stalagmites which looked seriously eerie underwater.

I had a pretty dodgy moment mid-dive where the mouthpiece on my regulator came off and there was literally nowhere to breath through, meaning I had to switch to my emergency regulator! It was somewhat comforting that in such a serious situation your body goes into autopilot rather than panicking! We finished our first dive and were somewhat lost for words to describe what an amazing experience we had just had! Our second dive was a bit trickier at the ominous sounding 'Temple of Doom' cenote, a short drive and a 150 metre walk through the forest with our gear on. We had to jump 8 feet into this cenote with our gear on, and the water was somewhat greener with less visibility. We were told that this was a classed as a difficult dive due to the fact that we would encounter halocline - where saltwater and freshwater meet. Sure enough, after descending about 12 metres the water got warmer and visibility went from about 30 metres to about 10cm! The only way to describe it is like looking through a cloudy piece of plastic. So, along with little light, seriously impaired vision, and close caverns all around you, the room for error was pretty small! If you had a serious fault with your air underwater you would be pretty screwed! As such, the dive was a serious adrenaline rush. We finished our second dive overcome with a mixture of relief and amazement at the magical yet potentially dangerous experience we had just encountered. It was so good/thrilling that I decided it ranked up there with the sky-dive and bungee jump for the most 'ballsy' things I had done in the past 12 months.

After Tulum came 4 nights in the beach town of Playa del Carmen. There was very little culture here but it was really nice to laze on the beach and relax in what is essentially as resort town. We had a couple of really great nights out here, including Coco Bongo on the Saturday night. Coco Bongo is a mixture between a nightclub and a Las Vegas style show. Oh yeh - and it had an open bar...! We had an amazing night, with confetti and balloons flying everywhere as acrobats swung above our heads and impersonators of everyone from Elvis to the Rolling Stones performed on a big stage.

We had opted to stay in Playa for longer rather than go to Cancun which turned out to be a really good option as Cancun turned out to be pretty soulless and we were relieved to only be there for 2 nights. That said, it had a nice beach where we lazed on our last day in the region. Then, after 8 awesome weeks we caught a flight from Cancun to San Francisco (via Atlanta) and having met Adam, we got a tube into town to our really nice hostel in the city centre.

So that brings me to where we are now. We having about 6 weeks in the US to drive from San Fan to Washington DC. We have some serious ground to cover and some seriously exciting things to do, of which I will let you know about in due course!

Wow - where to begin!? It's over 2 weeks since I last blogged so I'm afraid this is going to be a long one as we have done SO much!

Our first stop after San Juan del Sur was Isla de Ometepe - an island on a huge freshwater sea in Nicaragua with two almost symetrical volcanoes on it. We were here for a full day so decided to walk up Volcan Concepcion - the higher of the two. We were told we couldn't get right to the top as the gases were dangerous, so we walked up 1000m; high enough to get some stunning views of the island and to see the top of the volcano. We left the island and travelled up to the colonial city of Granada. This was a really pretty town with the streets lined with buildings painted in a variety of colourful pastel shades. We bought some Italian ice-cream and wandered the streets, stopping to take pictures of the churches and other colonial-era buildings.

Next came Leon - another colonial city a couple of hours north of Granada. This was less picturesque (and much hotter) though we had really only come for one reason - volcano boarding! A couple of companies ran volcano boarding trips but we opted for the trip with Bigfoot Hostel. It was $25 dollars and you got a beer and cookies on the truck back as a reward. We boarded the massive truck with about 20 other people and took the 45 minute (bumpy) journey to Cerro Negro (black volano). This was the youngest volcano in Central America and as such is still made of loose, black, volcanic rock. We climbed the volcano for about 40 minutes, stopping on the way to see inside the crater and to take some pictures jumping in the seriously strong wind. Health and safety nuts would have had a heart attack! Finally it was time to get kitted up in our orange jump-suits and goggles and to queue up to take on the huge run to the bottom. The group went 2 at a time - each with their own boards - with Sam and I 'racing' each other. To control the board you had to dig in with your fit, though this bore the risk of flipping. The first 100 metres or so were not too steep and this was an ideal time to get to grips with the sledge. However, after that things got a lot steeper and before you know it you are hurtling down the volcano. The goggles were really foggy and you get tons of volcanic rock spraying into your face, so you can{t see a lot other than the black all around you. In the end Sam beat me by a few metres and notched up 51kph to my 50kph (I put this down to his extra weight...) After our beers and cookies we got the truck back to Bigfoot for a couple of complementary mojitos. All in all a wicked day!

The next two days were full of horrible, hot and sweaty coach travel to get to the Bay Islands in Honduras. Finally we arrived, with a girl called Alice we had randomly bumped into in San Juan who we knew from uni. The ferry over to Utila (the island we were staying on) was HORRIFIC with people being sick right left and centre. I never get seasick but was pretty close! After 60 queasy minutes we arrived and got a taxi down to Alton's Dive Shop where Alice had stayed last time she was in Utila. The rooms were pretty basic, but the setting was amazing with a pier going right over the water. I signed up to do my PADI Open Water, and then we went out for dinner and rum. The first full day in Utila was stunning with clear blue skies. Sam decided to do a dive whilst I started my Open Water theory. However, our luck turned as the next 3 days were pretty grim weather-wise so I could not get my confined dive (shallow diving going through the basics) done as the wind was making the visibility too bad in the shallows which was really frustrating as I couldn't go out into the deeper, clearer water until this was done. We fretted a bit but I decided to finish my Open Water having completed all my theory, and in the end the weather got better and I managed to finish my diving in 1 1/2 days followed by 2 free fun dives on the second day (4 dives in a day = knakering!!) The diving was great and I feel really comfortable underwater now. I saw tons of fish, as well as some huge crabs, a turtle and a gorgeous eagle ray.

When we were in Utila we ate tons of local food - most of which came in the form of baleadas which are essentially tortialls filled with refried beans and veg/meat. They were so cheap that we ate loads and now can't look at any more! Sam also has his Open Water so the plan is to do a dive in Belize. In the end we stayed in Utila for a week which was very easy as it's a very relaxed place. Luckily, the delay only put our plans back a day, and so on the Friday we set off back to the mainland to head south to Copan (luckily the ferry back went in a flash as the sea-sickness tablets we were given knocked us out for the journey!)

After a long trip we got to the Honduran town of Copan Ruinas. We had considered rushing through here to save time, but when we got there we realised we had to stay for a day as it was really nice and had some ruins nearby which were meant to be the best preserved in the region. We stayed in a really pleasant hostel with hot water (!) and visited the ruins which were really cool and got our imaginations going about life in a Mayan city. We somehow managed to make our trip coincide with the start of a festival in Copan which was very lucky as we were treated to a re-enactment of a Mayan ceremony in the central park, followed by a firework display. The next morning we crossed the border into Guatemala and got another mammoth bus up to Flores where we were due to stop for the day to see the ruins up at Tikal. This was a pleasant, if quiet, town situated on a large lake and we got a hotel with a really stunning view. We had to get up at 4.30am for the bus to Tikal which was horrific, but worth it in the end as we got to the site at 6am and this meant that there were loads of brds and other wildlife playing around. Tikal is very different to Copan; whereas Copan was open and the forest cut back, Tikal was very much over grown with huge Mayan pyramids sprouting out of the lush forest. The ruins were truly awe-inspiring; huge and somewhat eerie since their main use was for sacrifice. After 6 hours in the park we got the bus back to Flores and spent the afternoon relaxing after our early start. And that brings me to where I am now in an internet cafe just over the road from our hotel!

Tomrrow we will get the bus to Belize City, and then the boat to Caye Caulker where we will stay for 5 nights. It's my birthday on Thursday so we might try and dive then. After that it's up to Mexico for our last 10 days. We have really enjoyed the past couple of weeks and certainly had some of our best days of the trip. Volcano boarding, diving and the ruins were all seriously cool, and we especially liked our time in Nicaragua; we didn't know what to expect but had a great time. Here's to more fun and adventure!

When I last wrote we were just on our way to Puerto Viejo; a Carribean beach town on the east coast of Costa Rica. After a long, sweaty bus ride there through the lush countryside, we arrived and soon checked into a cheap and cheerful hostel. That afternoon we walked round the town and got a feel for the place. The make-up was essentially a mixture of local Carribean folk, and North American retirees. The town itself was reasonably developed with plenty of places to eat and a few bars. We stayed here for 4 nights; 2 in our original hotel and 2 in a swanky (but still well priced) hostel next door. Despite yet another Lonely Planet description of Puerto Viejo as a ´party town´, things were decidedly quiet when we there, save for Saturday night when the world-and-his-wife seemed to come out the woodwork and the local club Jonny´s Place was crammed full with local rastafarians. It was pretty sketchy so we didn´t hang around too long! We spent a few days on the beaches trying to get our tans going on, and cycled 13km down the coast to Manzanillo (small beach town) one day.

On our last day at Puerto Viejo we toyed with the idea of going to Bocas del Toro in Panama; a place on our original itinerary and somewhere which we had heard great things about. However we decided on balance that we didn´t want to risk getting stuck in any more protests so headed north back to San Jose for the night. The next day we took a bus 4 1/2 north to the town of La Fortuna. Everyone heads here for the same reason; to get a good look at the imposing Arenal volcano. Arenal is one of the most active volcanoes in the West, though hasn´t spewed out any lava for over a year. We stayed here for 2 nights and spent our full day there doing a tour (it seemds pretty much impossible to do anything worthwhile in Costa Rica without being on an organised tour - one of the perils of being so touristy). We bumped for a tour which gave us some good views of the volcano and a walk through what turned out to be the gardens of a nice hotel - a bit random! We also went to a waterfall and Sam opted to put the volcanic mud on his face (I suspect he wears facepacks at home anyway...) which made for some amusing photos.

There are several host springs you can pay to go to at La Fortuna, but they are all seriously expensive, so our tour took us to a local volcanic river. We should have known things were a bit odd when we arrived there after dark and the bus driver told us to take nothing but our swim shorts (Sam and I took our shoes too as we had to walk down a gravel path). When we got to the river we walked down a concrete tunnel which ran over a section of the shallow river, and then we arrived at a section where a dam had been constructed allowing people to sit in a pool of water. We sat in the warm water - in the dark - for about half an hour which was relaxing and we were surrounded by fire-flies which lit up the dark forest. However, when we went to get out I discovered that my brand new Merrells had been nicked! I was obviously livid but the lady at our hostel later told us that it was a notorious site for theft and that we probably went with a bit of a dodgy tour company (hence why it was cheaper!) To compound things I somehow left my swimshorts on the bus! Needless to say, I was feeling pretty hacked off with a slow start to the trip combining with losing my shoes which were pretty vital for any hiking.

The next day we travelled to Monteverde which is a town in the northern highlands. This was the bit of Costa Rica I was most looking forward to and we frankly needed a bit of fun/luck. We ended up staying here for 3 days and had a really good time! We spent the first day walking in the Santa Elena Reserve which was very wild, and whilst we saw no wildlife, it was nice to be walking around such a quiet forest. The next day we did the Extremo zip line tour which was the best day of our trip so far and loads of fun. This consisted of 13 zip lines over the rainforest canopy, a tarzan swing, a rappel, and a ´superman zip´right at the end where you flew 1km over a HUGE valley on your front in a superman pose. The scenery was stunning and for $40 we had a great day out. On our last day in Monteverde we climbed to the highest point in the region which was a hot 1 1/2 hike up a never ending dirt road. We had a nice view from the top and then spent the rest of the day relaxing in the sun.

After 3 really good days in Monteverde, we left Costa Rica on a high, despite the expensive prices and the huge saturation of American tourists. Nicaragua awaited us and after a long day travelling across the border, we ended up in San Juan del Sur from which I write now.

San Juan del Sur is a small beach town on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. We have been here for 4 days with one to go. On our first night we checked into Naked Tiger Hostel which is up in the hills overlooking the ocean with phenomenal views. It was essentially a lads pad run by a group of Ozzies which we thought would be good fun, but it was a bit too hardcore for us and essentially like sleeping in a nightclub (music pumping until 4am every night...) so we moved to a breezy hotel with a balcony overlooking the sea.

We have been surfing and went on a fishing trip yesterday where we caught 11 fish in an hour and then took them to a restaurant to be cooked which was very tasty! It is our last day here and tomorrow we will travel to Isla de Ometepe before heading north through Nicaragua.

So all in all we have been a bit unlucky so far, but as you can probably tell we are on an upward curve and things are coming more exciting. We are really looking forward to the colonial towns of Nicaragua and the Bay Islands in Honduras where we can dive. Add in a bit of Mayan culture in Guatemala and snorkelling/partying in Belize and Mexico and we definately have lots to look forward to.

Hola! So we're here and I'm writing after a turbulent first 8 days in Central America. Let me rewind to the 31st January when we left the UK. We flew to Panama City via Atlanta (USA) with Air Delta which was pretty un-eventful. On arrival in humid Panama City at around 11pm we got a taxi from the airport to our hostel - Hostel Mamallena - which was really well located and we had a private room to ourselves. After a couple of celebratory beers we hit the sack, ready for the start of our adventure.

Our first full day saw us wander the streets of Panama City - a pleasant enough place but with little to do of real interest, though the old quarter called Casco Viejo was nice. Despite being right at the start of our trip, things took a downward turn when we were told that we would not be able to get to our next location (a hill town called Boquete) as the Pan American highway was closed due to protests and there are no other roads West. At first we didn't think much of the situation as protests are supposedly common in Latin America, but after speaking to some more people and doing a bit of research, things turned out to be a lot worse than we thought. The native Indians from Panama were protesting at plans by the government to liberalise mining laws which would see their native area invaded by corporations. As a result, all of the major roads in Panama were blockaded. This presented us with a real problem as we only wanted to stay in Panama City for two nights, and there wasn't much for us to do there. To add to the problem, all the hostels were booked up in the city as everybody was stranded causing over demand (there are few hostels/cheap hostels in the city). Thus, we ran the danger of being stuck with nowhere to go and nowhere to stay. We ended up finding somewhere to stay but stayed in 3 different places for 3 consecutive nights which underlines the problem we were facing. This whole experience tainted the start of the trip and we ended up booking a flight over the protests to David (Panama's second city) which took a chunk out of our budget but was on balance the right thing to do as we were having a pretty rubbish time. Having said that, we did visit the Panama Canal on our second morning in the city which was interesting with a very good visitor centre. (Did you know it costs between $300,000 to $400,000 for a cargo ship to pass through the canal; expensive!)

Having escaped from Panama City through flying to David, we then got a bus to Boquete and hoped to stay in this cool, hill-town until the protests had died down. We checked into a really good hostel and went on a trip with some of the people there to some natural thermal hot springs which was really relaxing, and they were right next to a cool river which was really refreshing. Finally we were able to have a bit of fun! There is very little nightlife in Boquete (other than a random African themed bar called 'Zanzibar' which played videos of lions prowling the bush on repeat!) so we just got some beers from the supermarket each night and chilled out with them. Food-wise we just ate in a local canteen style place which was good and cheap. We had some really nice people in our hostel including two Ozzie guys called Tom and Luke who we had some beers with and they gave us some good destination tips so we got excited for our next few weeks.

The next two days in Boquete were really relaxed as we drank coffee (locally grown and processed) and went on two really good walks into the local countryside; the first one took us up into the hills as we stumbled across the 'Pianista trail', and the second one took us into the rainforest where we found two 'secret' waterfalls which was cool and we felt like proper adventurers. Things got a bit frustrating again as the protests hadn't cleared; in fact they were getting worse and there was a violent clash with police where a native was shot dead. Thus, despite wanting to travel across to the popular archipelago Bocas del Toro for beaches and partying, we were forced to end our stay in Panama as we headed back to David to make an early morning dash across the border into Costa Rica. We were really disappointed but knew we had many, many more beaches to come so it was the only option in the end.

A 9 hour bus journey took us to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, from where I am writing this post. We are staying in a really cool hostel which feels more like a bachelor pad complete with flat screen TV, X-box and pool table. Last night we cooked for ourselves as food in Costa Rica is seriously pricey (more than the UK) and chilled out. Today we visited the La Paz waterfall and nature reserve. We weren't sure what to expect as it was an organised tour (slightly more touristy than past travel excursions) but we ended up being the only ones on the tour so had a really nice guide to ourselves. The reserve was part of a huge, protected rain forest, and was full of wildlife which had been rescued from the local area. There was an aviary where we saw toucans (a childhood wish come true!) and macaws. There were also monkeys, a wild-cat area where we saw mountain lions, a gorgeous jaguar and a few ocelots, and loads of humming birds drinking from nectar feeds. After a huge lunch we saw some exotic frogs (including the tiny poison dart frog) and a couple of big waterfalls. On the way home we stopped off at a coffee plantation and sampled more coffee (coffee is literally everywhere in Central America and often very cheap/free). All in all it was a great day and really good to have some fun with the chaos of the protests behind us.

Tomorrow we will make the journey to the Carribean coast to the beach town of Puerto Viejo for a bit of R&R, before returning to San Jose a few days later to crack on with the rest of our trip.

Initial thoughts about Central America, despite the protests, are really good. The people are really friendly and we are getting by fine with limited Spanish (I've delegated that job to Sam!). The food is basic but tasty and the general feel of the place is really relaxed. We can't wait for all the fun to come yet!

So I just realised I never blogged again when I got home. For those of you who were concerned, I'm alive and very well. It turns out that not many of my friends actually read my blog, but somehow some posts still got 400+ views so lots of random people must have read it which is cool (although it means I should probably try and increase the quality of my blogging!)

Getting home was a big relief. We got back a couple of days before Christmas and it was so nice to be in a warm house with clean sheets - a million miles away from the hectic, dirty India. I've been at home for a month now and am ready to get going with my next adventure. Whilst it is nice to be home things don't change much, so even when you're away and craving to be home it's always worth remembering that everyone at home would much rather be where you are.

I leave for my next trip next Tuesday (31st January), flying from London Gatwick to Panama City (via Atlanta). This time I am going with my friend Sam - an old housemate from uni - and we will travel from Panama City to Cancun over 8 weeks. It will be weird not being with Dom and Gooch since I've been with them on every trip abroad, but I know Sam and I will have a great time. My other friend Adam will then join us in California as we take on the USA.

I thought I should offer a few insights into my thoughts on my last trip.

• Best scenery: Very difficult, but probably the views from skiing in Treble Cone, New Zealand. The drive from Queenstown to Franz Josef was out of this world!

• Most fun: Tough one, but I'd say we had the most fun in Dunedin (New Zealand) with the students we stayed with and the rugby games - hard to beat

• Best day: One day in Taupo (New Zealand). Skydive from 16000 feet in the morning, trout fishing on Lake Taupo in the afternoon - awesome

• Best activity: Skydiving! Was amazing! Closely followed by bungee, glacier hiking and scuba diving.

• Most relaxing: Gili Islands, Indonesia - pure bliss

• Worst place: Varanasi - worst city on earth! Dirty, noisy, smelly and just pretty weird. Ooty wasn't great either.

• Worst day: Probably on a long bus somewhere in India. Not seeing tigers in India was gutting but we still had a nice day.

• 5 places I'd recommend: Lake Tekapo (NZ), Palolem (Goa, India), Taupo (NZ), Bay of Islands (NZ), Hampi (India)

• ...and 5 places I wouldn't: Varanasi (India), Delhi (India), Ubud (Bali), Ooty (India), Ulu Watu (Bali)

So as for blogging on the next trip; I found it quite an effort to blog on the last trip, but I will keep it up. I have also started on Twitter so you can follow more regular updates on there:

https://twitter.com/w_bickfordsmith

Next time I write I'll be in Panama!

Sorry for the very long gap! We've been very busy over the past couple of weeks and travelled some pretty substantial distance, so it's only now in the desert town of Jaisalmer that I have the chance to go over what we've been up to.

When I last wrote we were in Goa (which seems ages ago now!) We had a really nice time and hired scooters to tour the northern beaches and then got a bus down south to Palolem where we stayed for a couple of nights. Everywhere we went we enjoyed staying in beaches and drinking cheap beer at tables on the beach. Dom crashed his 50cc scooter which he is rightly very embarrassed about but luckily he escaped with some grazes which have nearly healed.

After the warm, relaxed bliss of Goa we got an overnight train up to Mumbai where we spent a full day walking around the city taking in the colonial buildings, and we also took a trip to Elephanta Island - an island with temples carved out of the stone. Mumbai was much nicer and less busy than we expected which was a pleasant surprise. We then got a train to Katni in Madhya Pradesh (central India) where we spent 24 hours in a tiger reserve where the guidebook virtually guaranteed we'd see tigers. Alas, after waking up very early and doing 2 jeep safaris, we saw no tigers and left pretty disappointed as we had taken a large detour to get there. Sadly, our next stop was the hellish city of Varanasi (holy city to Hindus) which was filthy, smelly and very crowded. It was probably the worst city I've ever been to! The only nice bit was a dawn boat ride along the Ganges to see the pilgrims washing and to see people burning their dead on funeral pyres (!). Thankfully we didn't see any floating babies (babies are tossed into the Ganges upon death rather than burnt as they are still 'pure').

Next we got a train to Delhi - a little earlier than expected as the trains were all booked to go directly to Agra - and we stayed there for 3 nights rather than doing it at the end of our trip. Like Mumbai, Delhi was much better than expected though still busy and with not a great deal going on for tourists. We took a day trip to Agra which was really cool; the Taj Mahal was every bit as impressive as the pictures, and Agra Fort was definately worth seeing.

After Delhi came a long train to Jaisalmer; a desert town close to Pakistant with a tremendous fort perched on a hill. This was our first taste of Rajasthan and a really impressive place. As I write this, we have just returned from a 2 day, 1 night camel safari. It was good fun although we are very saddle sore! We camped next to a big sand dune and met some Israelis and a Dutch guy who did the tour with us which was good. Tonight we are in search of some meat after eating a lot of veg curries recently and then tomorrow we will hit the blue city of Jodhpur. Finally we will visit Udaipur before taking an overnight train to Delhi and flying home on the 22nd.

Despite a scenic ride up the mountain in a toy train, Ooty turned out to be a little disappointing as it was pouring it down thanks to a typhoon in southern India. As such we got pretty cold and wet, though did a short walk through some tea plantations to save us from sitting in all day. We passed the rest of the time eating delicious kebabs (southern India is mostly vege so we were in serious need of meat!) and homemade chocolates - 40p for 100g!! After Ooty we got a bus to Sultanbatheri; the town next to Wayanad Wildlife Reserve. When we got there, we took a short bus to Wayanad then took a 90 minute jeep tour of the park. After a slow start, we came across some wild elephants. After driving further, we came across a herd of 6 or so on the road. Our driver decided to carry on down the road and thankfully they moved out of the way, though gave us a big 'trumpet' as we sped past. We stopped just beyond them and got some great photos.

After Wayanad we took another bus north to Mysore in Karnataka state. Here we took a (genuinely) interesting audio tour of the Maharajas Palace, and went back in the evening to see it light up. Mysore is the spice capital of the south so we walked round the large market and took in the sights and smells of the city. We also went to the train museum - a "must see" according to Lonely Planet - though it was pretty terrible in reality!! Gooch and I went to a very nice sweet shop and bought a selection of India sweets, including 'Mysore Pack' which is a delicious, gingery sweet. After two days here we got an overnight bus to Hospet. The journey seemed to travel along the only road in India with speedbumps meaning we were thrown in the air every 20 minutes! From Hospet we took a short bus to Hampi where we to stay for two nights.

Hampi was a welcome relief from the towns we had already encountered in India. It was small, quiet, and authentic, and had a landscape of thousands of boulders and ruined palaces. It was also hot which was a nice change! We had a really nice couple of days wandering around Hampi and generally just chilling out. From Hampi we took an early train (our first train) to Goa. It was a good service and we got a bed each in sleeper class (lowest class with a bed). They brought along a lot of food and chai and the 9 hour journey seemed to go quite quickly. Dom was pretty ill at this point with a temperature so it was lucky we didn't have to do anything.

We got to Goa last night and are staying in a town called Anjuna which is small and sleepy. Dom is better but Gooch is now ill; me next it would seem! We went to the beach today and will tour the rest of north Goa tomorrow, before heading down to south Goa. Then we will get a train up to Mumbai.

India is tiring but interesting; I am looking forward to the north as I feel that will be more stereotypical India, but really we just want to enjoy our last 3 weeks before we have to get home to cold and dark England.

Hello India! We arrived in Kochi on the evening of Thursday 17th and headed straight to Fort Cochin where we stayed in a nice hotel in town. Fort Cochin is an old colonial town, and despite the fact there was no fort (which I thought there was!) we had a nice wander the next morning and ate some dosa (south Indian pancake) with coconut chutney, curry, and masala tea to wash it down - delicious! We then had a huge early lunch at a restaurant recommended in Lonely Planet which was very tasty but we all left horrifically full...a feeling which was to persist for our first week here as we ate our way through the tasty yet fattening cuisine!

After Kochi we got a ferry to Alleppey which is where we were to book onto a tour of the famous backwaters on a houseboat (see picture below). We found one for a decent price and though it was a bit shabby, set sail with much excitement. Despite a delayed departure (Indians don't seem overly fussed about being on time!) we had a great lunch and saw some nice scenery.

We were a bit disappointed when we docked that evening and the boat next to us put their onboard TV on on full blast, but we still tried to enjoy ourselves and have a pleasant evening. The next morning we left the boat after another sail and breakfast and caught a bus to Kumily - the town from which we were going to visit the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. The buses have been seriously cheap so far (between 50p and 1 pound for a long journey) though we are looking forward to getting some trains as we move north.

In Kumily Gooch and I went to a Keralan dance which was pretty odd but quite funny, and the next morning we rose early for a trek around the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary - a famous reserve in southern India. Sadly we saw no wildlife (!) but it was good to be stretching our legs after 3 weeks of lazing about in Indonesia. That afternoon we got a boat tour of the massive lake and saw some birds and bison, but no elephants or tigers. Nevertheless, we know we will see plenty of elephants on the trip and have pinned our hopes on a tiger reserve Lonely Planet raves about (though Lonely Planet has not been great for us so far so who knows).

The next morning we moved on again, getting an early bus to Munnar - our current location. Munnar was used as a summer retreat for the British during the early days of the Empire and is full of tea plantations which I have decided are even more impressive than the rice paddies which dominate the rest of Asia. We went to a tea manufacturing museum and climbed a hill for some great views. Tomorrow we move on again (the buses all leave at the crack of dawn (7am) so we are knakered) to a town where we can get a scenic train up to Ooty - another mountain retreat for the British. From there we will head further north.

Overall our first 5 days in India have been very good. Kerala has eased us in well, and though we fear the north slightly, I'm confident it will be the best part of our trip. We have eaten a lot of tasty food - our favourite being the thail which is a mixture of small pots of vege curry with either dosa, chappatis or ricce. We also love the masala chai - milk tea with cinammon and other spices. The people have been very friendly and despite a lack of understanding of personal space, we are liking speaking to lots of people.

We will be home a month today so we are going to try and get a lot of ground covered - exciting times ahead!

The Gili Islands were so nice that we ended up staying there for 8 days, spending our days lazing on the beach, and spending our evenings eating at some of the many beachfront restaurants (we ate at tables on the beach and only 10 metres or so from the sea - you'd pay a fortune for that in the Med!) and drinking cocktails and Bintang in the many bars.

Ollie, Gooch and I did a bit of snorkelling on the reef which was only 15 metres out from the beach, and we saw loads of brightly coloured fish and even a couple of turtles. I have a new camera (my old one broke) which is waterproof so we got some wicked photos. Here is one Gooch took of me swimming with a turtle:

The three of us also went scuba diving at 'Shark Point' - one of the many dive sites around Gili Trawangan. Despite the name we didn't see many sharks - I caught a glimpse of one but it swam away very quickly. However we did see a few giant turtles - they were unbelievably big, with one spanning a good 2 metres. The coral was pretty cool, though I have to admit it wasn't a shade on the Great Barrier Reef.

On the 10th November we went to a Full Moon party on the beach hoping that our disappointment at missing out on Thailand would be forgotten. However, in the end it was a bit lame, though we still had a good time.

Gooch has gone to meet Dom to spend a couple of days travelling in Java (Dom left a while ago to go on a tour to see Komodo dragons) so Ollie, Tom and I are back in Kuta Bali. We had a really good night last night and spent the day quite hungover on the beach and did a spot of surfing. We are just about to go out for some dinner, and tomorrow we are going to have a proper surf session - I need to somehow stop using my surfboard as a submarine! Then on Wednesday we will say our goodbyes and I'll meet up with Dom and Gooch in Jakarta.

A couple of weeks on the beach has been really good for a bit of R&R after the amazing and active 7 weeks in New Zealand. I have also become very excited for the hectic challenge ahead which is India, and I hope to blog soon after arriving there.

So after a long couple of days travelling we touched down on the Indonesian island of Bali. We were all very excited as we made our way to the tourist town of Kuta, and when we got there we were met by hundreds of small shops selling fake goods (Ray Bans, designer hand bags etc), some budget hostels, and a long, busy beach. We checked into a very averaqe hostel, then ditched our bags to jump in the warm sea - somewhat of a change compared to the freezing NZ ocean. So we stayed in Kuta for a couple of days and had 2 big nights out, as well as doing a bit of surfing as Kuta beach is ideal for beginners. We also did a day trip down the coast to 'dreamland' (surf beach) and some cliff top temples at Ulu Watu. After this, we were desperate for a bit of culture so headed north to the 'cultural centre' of Bali called Ubud where we had amazing massages, ate in some really cool restaurants, and went on a day tour of some temples.

After Ubud we got a ferry across to Lombok which was much less touristy and felt like Bali probably did 20 years ago. After watching a really nice sunset in Sengiggi, we travelled down to Kuta in Lombok which is dubbed as the 'antithesis to Bali's version' by Lonely Planet. It certainly was, with very basic shacks on the beach, though we stayed in a nice hotel. It was seriously hot down there so we felt pretty lethargic, but on the second day Gooch, Olly and I went surfing where we got taken out in a boat to a reef. The waves were pretty big and I don't think I stood up once! We had a good time, but all got seriously sunburnt on our arms/legs after 4 hours in the water.

Having had a good but not amazing time in Indonesia as of yet, we were somewhat cautious as we travelled up to get a boat to the Gili Islands. This was not helped by a horrible stint at the small port with the locals threatening violence if we did not pay them an extortionate amount of money for the boat ride (they later told us this was a big joke...'haha'!) However, all fear evaporated as we reached Gili Trawagnan - the largest of the 3 islands, and the loction from which I'm writing this blog post. The water is crystal clear, there is no traffic - just horse and carts - and the beach is lined with lovely bars and restaurants. We have been here a couple of nights and have had a very nice, chilled time. We are going to stay here a week and do some snorkelling and diving as there is lots of coral and turtles around here. After that, we will head back to Bali which will signal the end of Olly and Tom's trip, and the start of Dom, Gooch and my trip to India.

Well what an awesome 10 days it has been! Since I last blogged we've been to Northland and back, experienced the Rugby World Cup final, and been over to Waiheke Island. Tomorrow we leave NZ after 7 amazing weeks. I think we all feel ready to move on to a new country and a new culture, but these last couple of months have been some of the most exciting and happiest of my life. But let me rewind 10 days...

So we left Amy's house in Auckland for the Bay of Islands horrifically hungover after a big night for the ABs vs Wallabies game. Somehow I had lose my wallet, but that was the least of my worries as we had to sprint to catch 2 buses whilst carrying all our luggage and feeling somewhat sick. This was followed by a ropey 4 hour drive up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands and an early night to sleep off our woes. The next day (Tuesday 18th October) we got up, had a leisurely morning and came up with a rough plan for our stay in the north. The weather wasn't great so we catched a ferry over to Russell to visit the oldest pub in NZ then had a BBQ and a few beers in our hostel. Wednesday was also a bit overcast so Dipple and I dossed about watching some films, as the others went on a 4 hour kayak adventure which climaxed with Ollie falling out under a waterfall which sounded very amusing.

We woke up on the Thursday to a beautiful day and the Bay of Islands was lit up in the sunlight. As such, I fulfilled a long-held desire to go jetskiing. However, despite the sun, the water was very choppy and the jetskiing was less speeding along the ocean, and more stop-starting every few waves to avoid turning the jet-ski into a submarine. To cap things off, a giant wave took me out and I lost my prized Ray-Bans to the ocean, and having lost my wallet and broken my camera, I felt somewhat robbed by New Zealand. However, I didn't want to be too downhearted, and that afternoon we all enjoyed an awesome trip out fishing for snapper. Between us be caught over 30 fish, and ended up taking 27 or so home with us - an admirable catch. That evening we cooked them up on the BBQ, wrapped in foil with home-made lemon and garlic butter; it was a truly delicious dinner.

The next day, Ollie, Dipple, Birchy (Ollie and Dipple's mate from Durham) and I went out on a trip to spot some wild dolphins. We were pretty excited but not too sure what to expect, but before we knew it we were jetting off across the ocean in search of some orca (killer whales) which had been spotted that morning. After searching long and hard, the boat turned back and we thought we had missed out on finding them; however, the boat got a call from a rival who said they'd spotted them in a bay further inland. We arrived at the bay and it was one of the most beautiful in the Bay of Islands, and would not have looked out of place in the Carribean with turquoise waters and white sandy beaches. There were 8 or so orca and it was breathtaking to see them up-close; their black and white markings contrasting beautifully with the blue-green water. They swam right up to and around our boat, and one even flipped on its back in our jet-stream to enjoy a 'jacuzzi' bath. We then got back to our seats as the boat speeded off to another bay where we were meant to go swimming with wild dolphins. Again, we were all very excited so got our wetsuits and snorkel gear on, and as soon as the boat found the dolphins and we were given the signal, we got into the water and swam after the 'pod' of 9 or so wild dolphins. It was a mesmorizing experience, swimming alone with dolphins either side of you and below you, and every now and then you would swallow a mouthful of sea-water for concentrating too much on the dolphins and not enough on the swimming. We swam with them for about 25 minutes, then got out the water exhausted but elated after one of our best experiences ever. We enjoyed the boat ride back, sunbathing and drying off on the front of the boat, and exchanging stories about our dolphin experiences.

So we had an awewsome few days up in the North and then back down to Auckland it was for the final weekend. On Sunday (final day) I bought a replacement camera, and then we headed into town at lunchtime to soak up the atmosphere. Everyone had tickets apart from Dipple and I, so when the others left us, we headed to a few bars ourself and ended up in 1885; a bar we had enjoyed the weekend before. The game itself was very tense and we were surrounded by a room full of Kiwis who were seriously worried about how the ABs were playing agains the impressive French. However, as the final whistle went, fear was replaced by relief and everyone went crazy. The guys joined us later that evening, and we had a really good night, getting in at 5.30am after fighting the rest of Auckland off for a taxi home.

For our last couple of days in NZ before our flight to South East Asia, Dom, Gooch and I headed to Waiheke Island - a beautiful island just 35 minutes by ferry away from Auckland. The island had its very own microclimate with lots of sunshine accompanying a dozen or so vineyards. As such, we spent 2 days tasting wine and soaking up the sunshine and beautiful scenery, and ended up travelling around with a British guy called Chris and an Argentinian called Vicky which was good fun. Dipple and Ollie, meanwhile, stayed in Auckland to enjoy their final days buying Canterbury stash and going to the casino.

So tomorrow (Thursday 27th October) we will have been in NZ for 7 weeks, and we will fly to Kuala Lumpur (via Christchurch) and then onto Bali. Our entire S/E Asia leg has changed as the worst flooding in Thailand for 40 years has ruled it out as too complicated. As such, we will be getting our sun, sea and sand fix from the Indonesian islands, until November 17th when we will fly to India. For now it's goodbye to NZ after an amazing stay, and hello to more exciting adventures to come in Asia.