OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
“Don’t you ever get tired of going to markets? It’s soooo boring. It’s like going to a grocery store. You know they are all the same, right?” I have heard this from Brad on a weekly basis. Well, to answer that first question, no, not really. How I ever enjoy markets, and if the past tells anything, I will never …
“Jungle trekking, yeah!” Sheena was visibly excited on the morning that we awoke for our ill-fated day of jungle trekking. She’d picked up a new pair of trekking boots after we left Argentina, and now walked in circles in the parking lot of Thailand’s Khao Sok National Park while stealing glances at her fancy footwear as I finished loading up…
May 7, 2013 in Thailand, On the road We left Bangkok with mixed feelings. On the one hand, we were looking forward to Phuket where we would meet Filippo’s brother and his wife in a few days. They were coming to visit and to spend their holidays with us. But on the other hand, we were also sad to say…
Exactly one year ago, on May 2nd, 2012 it was the day of our departure – we were finally ready to leave. We originally had planned to leave one month earlier, but all the preparations had taken longer than expected, and the last nights before we left we hadn’t slept much. But now we were standing there with our motorcycles,…
In our next blog post, you’ll read about a guy we met named Hairi. After spending a couple of days with this man, who lived in a tent in the jungle with his family, we were really inspired. His life has been a continuous string of achievements that didn’t seem possible for someone without any money who lives in a…
We experienced a major culture shock, when we arrived at the airport in Bangkok by the end of November last year. After several months in third-world-countries we had the feeling that somebody had transported us right into the future. We sat in the taxi on the way from the airport to our friend Joerg’s house in the city, and couldn’t…
Nine months ago while Sheena and I were stranded in the Colombian mountains, we made a decision. If Nacho ever made it through South America, we would ship to Europe instead of our original plan of shipping to Asia. Things were getting difficult, and we needed a break. From Europe, if things got hard, we could always turn around and…
Bangkok, Thailand… start of the backpacker trail of SE Asia. Love it or hate it, if you’re going to Asia, you WILL end up in Bangkok. We have now been there several times and I must admit, I enjoy it. Yes, it is crazy, crowded, and chaotic. An enormous city of over 8 million, Bangkok is polluted with horrific travel.…
Location: 1° 18′ 48″ N, 103° 51′ 34″ E (Singapore) Distance from Sydney: 6,323 kms Thousands of Australians a year travel to Thailand. 9 or so hours by plane transports them to somewhere exotic and different north of the equator. The food is spicy and cheap, the weather humid and warm, the cities and culture different, the people warm, friendly…
We started on time, not really knowing how far we’d get! It always takes a couple of hours to get out of Bangkok…no matter how hard we try it’s just too confusing and trying to avoid the damn Motorway is a serious task! Taking the highway is really no fun so we decided to take the coastal roads. We passed…
Before leaving Battambang we wanted to see the bamboo train. Upon check-out the guest house we stayed at were so happy that we came, they gave both of us very pretty woven cotton scarves. We were touched! Getting to the bamboo train was an adventure, we felt lost among the villages and got all kinds of crazy scared looks. Once…
Phillip had suggested us a route to take from Chiang Mai to Nan and then from Nan to the Thai-Lao border. I can’t recall the name of the border crossing…it’s legit…but kinda isolated…could not find it in my usual resources! Getting out of Chiang Mai, we noticed some gray clouds, felt like rain was a’comin! And rain it did, not…
In Chiang Mai we headed straight towards Riders Corner where we ended up staying for the next couple of nights. Thanks to Phillip and his family for making it a great experience! Chiang Mai is definitely a nice chilled out place. Nick and I spent a good day walking around and exploring the endless number of wats and temples around…
We headed in the direction of Chiang Mai and could only get to a city called Nakhon Sawan. We got really lucky and found a good guest house within our range. We had the most amazing noodles in broth with pork meatballs in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant just outside the guest house for 30 bhat…love when that happens! Dinner for $1?!…
It was a nervous yet excited feeling we had when we were leaving India. We were really leaving our comfort zone! We had booked a hotel for the first couple of nights close to the metro rail not too far from the airport as we knew we’d be making trips to the cargo terminal. The day we got there, it…
Vanuit Siem Reap, Cambodja zijn we vroeg vertrokken richting Bangkok, Thailand. Een rit van 500 kilometer met een grensovergang. Aangezien iedereen lyrisch is over Thailand zijn onze verwachtingen hoog en dat is maar goed ook anders waren we waarschijnlijk (te) lang in Cambodja gebleven we gaan hier zeker nog eens terug! Eenmaal bij de grens verliep alles soepel en waren…
By Johno After a sodden but stunning Ankor Wat the journey continued on to Thailand and her capital, Bangkok. Bangkok is lodged firmly in traveller folklore. The name conjures up visions of bustling, steamy backstreets where wizened old women sell fried insects on wooden skewers whilst in the smoky rooms above people of questionable gender do even more questionable things…
Bangkok 7th -9th April Back in Thailand again, we intend to travel down the east coast after a stop in Bangkok, a three and a half hour drive from the Cambodian border. Or so we think…just three miles away from our hotel, we are stuck in a massive traffic jam, making the fatal mistake of going over the underpass instead…
(Emily) All things considered, our night camping out on the floor of the service station really wasn’t too bad (that said, our standards have dropped significantly on this trip, a fact normally made apparent when we bump into other westerners!) As I mentioned in our last entry, the locals were remarkably relaxed about this unscheduled and unwanted event and were…
(Emily) Bangkok was only about 150km away from where we’d crossed in from Cambodia but we knew it could take hours to negotiate our way into the centre so given the hour, we resolved to find a guesthouse en route and do the remainder of the journey the following morning. Typically, for the first time and, of course, now that…
18th March We wake to find the skies are still overcast, but decide to head out to the Sukhothai historical park, the walled old capital city of Siam. It is filled with ancient Wats dating back to the mid 13th century and remains of the old Kingdom. The dynasty lasted for 200 years and a great civilization was formed in…
Did you know that my phone bill last month was well over £200? Of course you didn’t, I didn’t until I checked the old online banking. It doesn’t sound that much I know, but it should have been zero, and had it not been for Mr Lloyds TSB canceling my cards every second day for a couple of weeks it…
What up peeps! (I’m going ‘gangster’ in order to appeal to the younger readers, I want to top 50,000 hits you see, it’s all about the numbers these days.) Right off the bat I’d like to make a thousand apologies for the delay in the blog, I know a lot of you have come to rely on our blogs as…
The final days in Thailand: we seemed to have spent a lot longer here than we had planned, basically because the place is interesting, cheap and (don’t tell Megan) the woman are just so damn hot! I’m joking of course, it’s not that cheap. We spent our final days in Chiang Mai wondering the little side streets and alley ways…
After the India debacle, or the ‘incident’ as it will now be named, we ended up back in Bangkok and were very happy about it, very happy indeed. We arrived a little after my brother and father, as we had changed our flight, which Air Asia did for free, but had to fly at a later time. We arrived in…
Only in the province of Ontario, Canada is Boxing Day a statutory holiday, elsewhere in Canada it is only optional and if you are Canadian you could very well have to go to work! Just an interesting little fact for you, thank you wikipedia, to help us ease back into the swing of things. We spent our Boxing Day watching…
Sorry it’s been a while folks, lots to talk about this time as well so go and get a cup of tea, perhaps even a hob knob or jaffa cake if you prefer and let’s get back into it… Thailand! Country number ten (yes Vatican city counts!) and another border crossing. The Malaysia side of things went very smoothly; passports…