TravelBlog » Dec and Shaggy

Dec and Shaggy - Declan Coffey & Shane May

Well a big IRISH hello to all our family and friends wherever you may be!!

We have decided to do what most people only dream of - pack up and head off travelling most of the world for the year.

We hope to explore places and countries we have always wanted to go to and see some of the most amazing sights across the world.

We hope that you will all join us on this trip which we will take through Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, China & hopefully some more places en route!!

We will try to keep the blog updated as often as possible.

See you all sometime in late 2008!!.

Dec & Shaggy

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Joined on: February 28th 2008
Last Login: December 16th 2008

Blog Entries: 48
Photos: 1076
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Dec and Shaggy, order by Date newest first.

By Dec and Shaggy
September 5th 2008

Days 306 - 307 - The 'Lighthouse' - a beacon of hope...

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh

Orphanage kids singing songs

Well after our depressing day yesterday at the 'Killing Fields', we thought we would try to explore the more brighter aspects of Cambodian culture. One of the places we had always wanted to visit during our trip around the Asian countries, was a local orphanage and we got our chance in Phnom Penh. Our tuk-tuk driver brought us to a local orphanage called 'The Lighthouse'. It is run by Mr. Lee and houses children, both boys and girls, from 2 years of age to 17 years of age. While we thankfully have never had to experience the necessity of having to [View Full Entry]

By Dec and Shaggy
September 3rd 2008

Days 304 - 305 - Sharing the pain of the 'Killing Fields' ....

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh

Skulls

Our trip into Cambodia from Vietnam was very smooth - the guy on the bus processed all the visa requirements for everyone on the bus for a small fee and it was well worth it for having no hassle at the border crossing. When we arrived in Phnom Penh at the central market, we were met by another avalance of tuk-tuk drivers, some of them even banging on the windows for our attention even before we got off the bus!!! In any event, we got a really nice tuk-tuk driver who brought us to cheap accommodation as requested - this was [View Full Entry]

By Dec and Shaggy
September 1st 2008

Days 301 - 303 - Searching for Miss Saigon...

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City

Notre Dame Cathedral

After completing so many night trips on the buses, we decided to take our bus trip during the day to Ho Chi Minh city or Saigon as its known locally. The trip allowed us to witness the magnificent views of the countryside and of the people working in it. A huge amount of rice is grown in Vietnam and this is really evident around the countryside. One of the main things we have noticed in Vietnam is that the women appear to do all the work whereas the guys seem to sit around shirtless and rub their bellies!!! Certainly it seems [View Full Entry]

By Dec and Shaggy
August 29th 2008

Day 300 - Fleeting visit to Nha Trang...

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Nha Trang

Would you like to be here?

Well we arrived in Nha Trang at about 6.30AM in the morning to a place that was bustling with activity. The people in Vietnam appear to rise early in the morning and on our arrival we could see people out running, jogging, doing their daily business throughout the city. For us, it was time to get a real bed and get some real sleep!! We have only planned to stay the day here and are heading off tomorrow morning to get our final 'sleeping bus' to Ho Chi Minh city. The hotel we were staying in had offered us free transport [View Full Entry]

By Dec and Shaggy
August 28th 2008

Day 298 - 299 - Tailor made in Hoi An!!

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Hoi An

Japanese covered bridge

Hoi An is apparently the best place to get yourself a tailor made suit in Vietnam. Given that we have already done that in Thailand, we kept well away from the tailor stores. This is actually quite hard as Hoi An has over 200 tailor shops in the town!! Hoi An is also widely known for its charming 'Old Town' area which is a cool place to stroll through during the day to view all the arts and crafts shops, not to mention the tailor made clothes and shoe shops which adorn some of the streets. Our journey to Hoi An [View Full Entry]

By Dec and Shaggy
August 26th 2008

Days 296 - 297 - Back in the 'old' capital...

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Hué

Former Royal Throne

Well as with everything in Vietnam or indeed Asia, buses never run to time. We survived our 15 hour bus journey from Hanoi on a 'sleeping bus' when it was only meant to take 12 hours!!. This was certainly a new experience for us as there are no sleeping buses in Ireland as far as we are aware of. Basically the bus is divided into three rows of seats or beds (can be adjusted during the day travel). The bus we got was very new and comfortable. Although after 15 hours on them, you still like to get off them and [View Full Entry]

By Dec and Shaggy
August 24th 2008

Days 294 - 295 - Sleeping in Halong Bay!!

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Halong Bay

View from cave path of Halong Bay

After two very hot days in mad Hanoi, we decided to head for some sightseeing and relaxation to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is located about 3.5 hours drive from Hanoi, so we took a package tour which involved us staying overnight on a boat! The journey out to Halong Bay was fine - we were picked up from our hotel in an air conditioned minibus and we joined about 12 other people for the overnight trip. Our tour guide was a guy from Malaysia called Kenny. The boat was made completely of wood and was in good condition. We all had [View Full Entry]

By Dec and Shaggy
August 22nd 2008

Days 292 - 293 - Good Morning Vietnam!!!

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi

Presidential Palace

Good Morning Vietnam!! - Almost everyone remembers that phrase by Robin Williams in the film of the same name, many years ago. We arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam to experience some of what the country has to offer. All the guide books explain to you that Hanoi is busy, busy, busy and boy are they right!! The flight from Laos was great and when we arrived at the airport, the hotel we were staying in had arranged for their taxi car to bring us into the city. The International Airport is located a good distance outside the city and it took us [View Full Entry]

By Dec and Shaggy
August 20th 2008

Days 290 - 291 - Vientiane or Paris??

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane

Laos's version of Arc de Triomphe!

Well that VIP bus that we said we were getting from Luang Prabang to Vientiane did not materalise at all!!! We got a bus alright but it was far from a VIP bus!! The bus journey took us approx 11 hours in total on a less than average bus with no air conditioning and with windows that the staff kept closing - more of that later! After our long journey we were wrecked and headed for our hotel by tuk-tuk. We had agreed a price of 10,000 kip each for the ride but when we got there, the driver tried it [View Full Entry]

By Dec and Shaggy
August 18th 2008

Days 288 - 289 - Laos's sleepy city....

Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang

City view from plane...

We arrived in the most relaxing country in the world - Laos!!! Luang Prabang in central Laos is definitely the most relaxed city we have come across yet. We arrived here by propeller plane from Bangkok which only took about 1.5 hours - the flight was very smooth and we had the most spectacular views from the plane as we came in to land. The country is full of green mountains and fields and lots of rivers. It is a country which is bigger than Ireland and only has a population of 6.5 million compared to Vietnam where we are going [View Full Entry]