APR 29 Vancouver - Toronto
Getting Started

In the morning, my cousin sent me to the Vancouver airport to catch my early flight to Toronto. I was excited, and also a little bit worried about my first big trip ever. Because of the time difference, it's getting dark already when I landed in Toronto Pearson International Airport. I took the airport express to downtown Toronto to meet up with my buddy Zhenqiang from UWO, who will travel to Ottawa & Quebec with me. We decided to rest early for an early departure the next morning. Hilton Toronto was nice, and 70 bucks for two made it even better! :)

APR 30 Toronto >> Kingston >> Ottawa >> Montreal
Amazing Race in the Rain

We started our 3 day Eastern Canada Amazing Race with a local Chinese tour company. I knew it's gonna be a "being there, done that " tour. But when transportation plus 2 nights four stars accommodation is even much cheaper than Gray Hound ticket alone, I couldn't complaint. Beside, I'm more into sightseeing than studying history, and i only had 5 days in eastern Canada. I just wanted to see as much as I could.

MAY 01 Montreal >> Quebec City
Je me souviens.

Because of the weather, Notre Dame Basilica & St. Joseph's Oratory were not as beautiful as in my roommate's pictures taken last fall. I ran into a UVic classmate Trisai at Notre Dame. She said i looked like the younger version of Prime Minster of Thailand and insisted to shake hands with me in front of the camera. :) The sun came out when we arrived at Quebec City. Compared to the metropolitan Montreal, I preferred the picturesque Quebec City. Nothing's better than wandering around QC and soaking into its European style atmosphere.

MAY 02 Quebec City >> Thousand Islands >> Toronto
Sneaking into the States

We sneaked into the USA today! :D When our ferry sailed pass the shortest international bridge in the world, we officially left the Canada and entered the States:) Thousand Islands was just beautiful, but it was so windy and sooooo cold! At night, I and my buddy had a big dinner at a Szechwan restaurant in Chinatown! The best Chinese meal ever since I left Szechwan! Then I said goodbye to my buddy and I stayed in the famous Canadiana for my first hostel experience - and it's awesome!

MAY 03 Toronto >> Niagara Falls >> Toronto
Oops! We Missed Paris Hilton

Today, I joined Jojo and her Van for a day trip to the Niagara Falls. I met a new German buddy Lutz from the same hostel during this tour. We explored the Wonderfalls and the Tacky Town together. When we got back to Toronto, Lutz and I went to the top of the CN Tower. Toronto's supercool! We waited 2 hours there for the night view. When we were there, we saw a huge crowd a few blocks away. When a few hours later we found out the crowd was because of Paris Hilton, Lutz felt so upset that we missed her. Oops:)

MAY 04 Toronto >> London Heathrow
Time Never Flies

Said goodbye to the lovely Canadiana in the morning. When I found out there's not enough time for me to visit the Toronto Zoo and Wonderland was closed, I decided to go to the airport 10 hours before my flight's departure time - That was a dumb decision. Turned out, unlike other major airports, YYZ was not a good place to kill time at all, especially in post security area. I suffered hours of repetitive CTV news, but it did wear me out. I fell asleep soon after I boarded on the plane.

MAY 05 - MAY 06 Oxford
It Is Not Just Old

After a 6 hours and 45 minutes flight, finally, I arrived in Heathrow. Although British accent made me feel ashamed of my poor English once again, I met up with my old junior high classmate Carol in Oxford with no problem. I was lucky to find a spare room in their shared house. How old, tiny and expensive are houses here compared to Canada! The next day, Carol showed me around the Oxford town. I was impressed by the history and culture of this university city. To understand why Oxford U is one of the best university in the world, just go and see its cafeteria! In the evening, I went to a musical named "the Spirit of Dance" with Carol & her friends. Oh, I wanna learn tap dance~

MAY 07 London
"Sorry, the ticket is not working in Paris."

After the breakfast, I said goodbye to Carol and left for London. I took the metro from Heathrow to Russell Sq. Luckily the terrorists did not pick this day. Contiki basement was not hard to find. After check-in, I and a Chinese girl from Vancouver hopped on a sightseeing tour bus. But it was so late that we could only do a small part of the route. However, we were still able to see the famous London Eye, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, etc. Because of the saying "Foggy London", I was surprised to see how blue the sky was and how beautiful London was! In the evening, I met the BE882 group for the first time during the tour briefing. Waiting for the legend to start...

MAY 08 London >> Paris
Bonjour, France

Getting up at 6am was not my favorite part. But I was excited for the start of this tour, and for Paris! The coach & ferry trip from London to Paris via Dover was nice. Although tired, I enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way. Green mountains and blue sky are always my cup of tea. We arrived at our first campsite during this tour in the late afternoon. The accommodation was simple but enough for me. Quite interesting, because of it's a budget tour, we needed Cookies & Dishes - we had to help with the cooking & serving and washing the dishes after meals! At night, we had a bus tour to explore the splendid illuminations of Paris. Wow! The Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, le Louvre, Eiffel Tower... It felt great to have dreams come true!

MAY 09 Paris
Wow

Today, we had some free time to explore this absolutely amazing city at our own pace. I and several fellows decided to visit le Louvre first. I was surprised to see how small the actual Mona Lisa is!:) Then we checked out Hugo's Notre Dame. Although I had never heard of Jim Morrison before, I agreed to accompany Joanene, a girl from Quebec to the Cemetery. It was interesting to wander around an unfamiliar city by metro. Although we wasted some time finding the right gravestone, we managed to get to the top of Eiffel Tower and get back to the coach in time. In the evening, we had a group dinner at a french restaurant. The food was disappointing. But the Parisian cabaret show later was interesting - not at Moulin Rough though.

MAY 10 - MAY 11 Beaujolais
All About Wine

Our coach headed south to the Beaujolais wine region. On the way, we visited a beautiful chatea at a place called Fontainbleau. We stayed at Contiki's own Chateau de Cruix, which was nothing fancy. At night, we had our first theme party "Geeks & Freaks' Night" at the Chateau's underground pub "The Cave". An aussie girl Kate made me dance on the floor. That was my first dance in a club ever! I got back to my room at around 2am. Never a fan of clubbing, but that was a fun night! The next day we did some hiking along the country road, and had our picnic lunch on a small hill called "the Top of the World".

MAY 12 - MAY 13 Barcelona
No Hablo Espanol

It was a long coach day. On the way from Beaujolais to Barcelona, we stopped to see the Pont du Gard which was built by Romans two thousand years ago. España! Barcelona is loved by artists. The next day, we wandered around the city and visited the unbelievable Art Nouveau Cathedral by Gaudi, the Picasso Museum, Dali Museum...In the evening, we enjoyed a Flamenco show and a nice seafood buffet.

MAY 14 - MAY 15 French Riviera ( Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo)
Just Be Rich for One Day

Back to France! We had lunch at Aigues Mortes, one of last remaining walled cities in France. In the evening, some guys decided to visit Nice by themselves. However, they missed the last train and they had to walk three hours back to the campsite in Antibes.:)The next day, in Cannes, we were lucky to see the big film festival. It was Starwars 3's premiere that day. I took the ferry to St Magritte island and walked around for a while. At night, our coach drove through the beautiful Cannes & Nice and arrives at the splendid Monte Carlo, Monaco. I played 20 bucks or so on jackpot in the gorgeous Casino. What a pity I missed the toilet there!:D

MAY 16 - MAY 17 Florence
Where's Dave?

Never good at dealing with saleswomen~I spent almost 300 euros in a french perfumery. Now enough gift for everyone when I get back home! After did some funny poses in Pisa, we finally arrived at Florence. In the evening, our night city tour ended up in a local pub. The huge beer shuttle made the group pretty high. Then next day, we had a guided tour in this Renaissance city. What a pity I missed the real David by Michelangelo! And how interesting to see that tons of fake designer bags were sold by groups of African vendors in all major tourist areas! It suddenly started to rain heavily in the late afternoon but we all refused to buy umbrellas. So everybody got so wet:) In the evening, after a tuscan dinner without pizza, most people went to the space electronic disco and I went back with the rest for a quite night.

MAY 18 - MAY 19 Rome
All Roads Lead to Rome

Luckily, today's coach journey was pretty short. Coach free in Rome, we have to take the train to the city. People got paranoid about the notorious Italian pickpockets. In the afternoon, we explored those magnificent ruins with an nice old lady as our guide. I could still feel the heat in Colosseum thousands of years ago. And how small Caesar's grave was! In Florence, I fell in love with the delicious Italian Gelato. Much better than Häagen-Dazs! The next morning, we went to one of the smallest but influential country in the world - Vatican City, where the Pope lives. No chance to see the Pope, :) but the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Church were enough to amaze me. After having some authentic Italian pizza for lunch, we decided to go to another church see the monks. Unfortunately, when we got there, we found that the church was closed. In the evening, the original Aussie "St. Peter" gave blessing to everybody during our small open-air party at the campsite. I was a little bit sick so I went to bed early. But that was a loud night~

MAY 20 - MAY 21 Venice
Attitude Adjusted

Because we had to take a ferry to the city, we stayed at the campsite only the first night in Venice. The "Flying Tigers" at the campsite were extremely annoying. Our guide Janene warned us about the interesting drink "Attitude Adjusted" at the campsite bar. It is a cocktail mixed with different liquors and breezers. The next day, after visiting a glass shop and a lace shop, we had some free time to get lost in this romantic Byzantine city. Later in the afternoon, we went to the port for a gondola ride. Soaking into the atmosphere with a glass of champagne in hand, what else could we ask for?

MAY 22 - MAY 23 Vienna
No Kangaroos in Austria

Almost every major European city we visited so far has a beautiful city center full of history and culture. So is Vienna. Never being a big fan of classical music before, but I enjoyed the Mozart & Strauss Night at a small concert hall. The next day, perhaps we'd seen too many churches so far, we spent more time on Kartnerstrasse and enjoyed the delicious Viennese apple strüdel. And it was interesting to see how many pharmacies are in Austria. In the afternoon, we visited a schnaps museum. I still couldn't understand how people could drink schnaps with gold leaves in it. In the evening, we had dinner at a traditional Austrian style house. After the meal, we had a small party there and people took turns to sing their national anthems. But we had to leave soon after the party started. So we moved the party to our coach!

MAY 24 Munich
Prost!

In the morning, we left Austria for Germany. We had a stopover at a concentration camp. History should never be forgotten. The Glockenspiel in Munich city was disappointing but the Bavarian Beer hall cheered everybody up. I had never drank beer with such a huge glass before!:) Prost!

MAY 25 - MAY 26 Hopfgarten - Austrian Tyrol
I Know I Can Fly

I couldn't be happier to go back to the nature. Although I am not good at swimming at all, I tried the whitewater rafting. And it was absolutely awesome! We stayed at Contiki's Gasthof for the night and had our second theme party Saints & Sinners. Considering we were on a tour, some people's costumes were so great that I was totally impressed. However, since I wanted a quite night, I did not go to the pub. The next day was one of the best parts of the tour! In the morning, we had a 20km group mountain bike ride along the beautiful trails. But the bikes had the most uncomfortable seat! After a BBQ lunch, we went back to the Gasthof. Some of us were transferred to a place where we did the paragliding. It was unbelievable! Flying in the sky with a bird's eyes was the best experience ever! And spinning down from the sky was one of coolest things I'd ever done!

MAY 27 - MAY 28 Lauterbrunnen, Swiss Alps
Look! Snow!

Finally, we were leaving the Schengen region for Switzerland. I just couldn't wait to see my dream place. But before that, we visited the Swarovski Crystal Museum. Because it's more about the high tech stuff than the crystal, I found it not as boring as I had thought. We then stopped at the tiny country Liechtenstein where you had to pay for an entry stamp on the passport. Afterwards, we did some army knife shopping in Lucerne. Our coach drove through hundreds of "paranoid" tunnels and the Alps reminded me of the Rockies. We arrived at the campsite in Lauterbrunnen in the late afternoon. The next day, we had a fantastic trip to the top of Europe Jungfraujoch by train. I sent some postcards from one of the highest post offices in the world. I was a little bit disappointed though because I expected to go skiing but the lift was closed.

MAY 29 Rhine Valley
Just Another Coach Day

Today, we left the Switzerland and headed back to Germany. We had a short stopover at the university city Heidelberg. It seemed everybody was tired of such small European town. Most of us just grabbed a lunch and then kept on traveling. In the evening, we arrived at a small town for dinner and then went to a winery to try some local white wine. At night, we stayed at a small town near Frankfurt called St Goar. We had some drinks near the Rhine river and most of us had an early night. Getting ready for out last stop...

MAY 30 - MAY 31 Amsterdam
It's Not Wrong, It's Just Different

Because of the traffic, our coach was running late. We visited a cheese and clog farm but missed the bike ride - I did not want to ride a bike in the rain anyway. In the evening, we had a chance to experience the unique culture of the city full of controversies. Sidewalk cafe, red light district... it's not wrong, it's just different. The next day, after exploring this city on a canal bike, a group of us visited the Anne Frank House. Later, although never a fan of beer, I loved the Heineken Experience, especially those high tech toys in the museum. It was the last night of our 25 day tour. We went on a canal cruise together and then had our last group dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was a night to remember...It's a 25 day journey in life that will go on...

JUN 01 Amsterdam >> London
Time to Say Goodbye?

Our tour officially ended after breakfast. In the morning, after saying goodbye to a few fellows leaving from Amsterdam airport, we were transferred back to London via Belgium & France. We arrived at Royal National Hotel in the evening, the place we started our journey 25 days ago. The big group hanged out together for the last time at the London Pub. Time to say goodbye... After tonight, some of us will continue traveling, some of us will go back home, some of us will try to get a job in UK...Life goes on. Our friendship will live. Thanks to the Internet.

JUN 02 - JUN 04 London (Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath)
A Fifteen Dollar Breakfast

I stayed in London for extra few days in order to have a rest and to explore more parts of England. On Jun 02, I went to the British Museum with two friends from the Contiki tour, Sohail & Bede. I was impressed by the collections of this museum. How many treasures did the old British Empire steal from all over the world! The next day, we three went on a day trip to the Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very nice. On Jun 04, after paying 7 pounds for three toasts and two juice, saying goodbye to my friends and receiving a refund from the Hotel Housekeeping who ruined my laundry, I took the tube to Heathrow for my flight to Athens. Goodbye, the expensive London! :)

JUN 05 Athens
Never Pick Up a Rock in Acropolis

Last night, although my flight landed in Athens airport very late, I managed to get on the last metro and arrive at Athens Backpacker's Hostel before midnight. It's nice to be able to get up as late as I wanted! At around 11am, I left the hostel and started to explore Athens. My knowledge about greek myth was pretty much learnt from the Japanese comic books I read as a kid. After Acropolis, I went to a restaurant and had some authentic greek salad and moussaka. Wandering around Syntagma Sq for a while, I decided to go to Piraeus to chill out and wait for my overnight ferry to Santorini.

JUN 06 - JUN 07 Santorini
No Traffic Police on Duty

The sleeping cabin on the ferry was worth every penny. When I woke up in the morning, I was already near the Santorini port. Aegean sea is just...Wow! I saw a Tourist Office sign when I got off the ferry. Turned out, it's a Private office. To avoid the hassle, I picked a hotel in Fira owned by the guy in the office. It was as nice as it in the picture, except I had to walk 20 minutes to the town every time:( I spent my first night in Fira, watched the magnificent sunset while having a delicious seafood dinner. The next day, I went on a boat trip the volcano and the hot spring. I stood on the top of the volcano, and the view took my breath away... In the evening, I got off the boat at the port of Ia town. I was so happy to find its symbolic white-washed chapel. Maybe the sunset in Fira gave me such a great expectation for the much more famous sunset in Ia, I felt a little disappointed when the sun disappeared from the horizon.

JUN 08 Paros
The Fried Lobster

Paros was much quieter than Santorini and it lacked the elegance of Ia town. However, compared to the rocky beach in Santorini, the beach here was much better. I soaked myself in the warm sea water the entire afternoon, totally forgot about the sun till I felt my t-shirt torturing me after I got out of the water. Ouch!

JUN 09 - JUN 10 Mykonos
Oh My Gosh

After the previous two islands, I looked more carefully when I tried to pick up a hotel from the hotel touts at the port. My effort paid off. I ended up in a nice, clean and cheap private hotel right on a beautiful beach! The best thing ever~ Not so many people came here that sometimes it became my private one!:) After spending another afternoon in the water, I went to the Mykonos town for dinner. After getting lost in this maze town for a while, I found I'd better find the way back to my hotel quickly~ It's not my party night! The next morning, I went on a boat to visit the archaeological remains of Delos. I met two nice Chinese girls Yawen & Kiki during this trip. When I was told they were suffering at the Contiki Mykonos resort, I felt so lucky that I did not pick up the Contiki Greek island deal in the end. We explored the Delos island together and had a nice lunch back in Mykonos. In the late afternoon, they left for their Super Paradise beach adventure and I went on a bus to check out the famous Paradise beach. Did not want to swim, I went up to a nearby rocky hill, enjoyed the sea wind and sunset while waiting for the return bus. In the evening, I sat on the balcony of my room, listened to the waves and appreciated my last night in the magical Aegean sea...

JUN 11 Mykonos >> Athens
Goodbye, Greece

It was a long ferry ride back to Piraeus. The burning sun around noon made the deck not a pleasant place to be. I went directly from the port to the airport after I got off the ferry in the evening. With the boarding pass in my hand, I started picturing my next destination. Egypt...Egypt...

JUN 12 - JUN 13 Cairo
The Pyramid in My Hand

The plane arrived at Cairo airport 3 o'clock in the morning. Luckily, a guy from the tour company came to pick me up then I did not have to deal with the greedy immigration officer for too long. Cairo city looked pretty the same as I expected, similar to a major city in western China. Even at this time of the day, the streets were still busy. In the Indiana hotel lobby, I met three of my fellow travelers, Bell from Thailand, Van and her brother from Vietnam. The hotel allowed us to check-in early at 6am, which was nice. The furniture in the room looked pretty old. But as long as the at least 20 years old A/C could still work, I did not care. Sleeping till the afternoon, I and Bell etc. decided to check out the city. A bellman from the hotel led us to his uncle's souvenir shop and we paid for a lesson. In the evening, during the tour briefing we met with the rest of the group, our tour manager Rafic, Robbie & Paula from New Zealand, Shaz from Britain, Lisa and her sister Jill from the Caribbean. The next day, we had a guided tour in the Cairo Egyptian Museum. It's very interesting to learn some Egyptology such as Ra, Ramses, etc. And the treasure from Tutankhamen's tomb - Wow! Then we head to Giza to see the Pyramids & Sphinx! The adventure to the heart of the pyramid killed my back - and there was nothing to see! Oh, forgot to mention, the Egyptian government is very concerned about the safety of foreign tourists - There are armed tourist police everywhere! At night , we boarded on an overnight train to Aswan. There we met the last member of our group, Michael from Australia.

JUN 14 - JUN 15 Aswan (Abu Simbel)
What Does 50 Degrees Feel Like

The train arrived in Aswan in the morning. We were transferred to the hotel to freshen up. Then we boarded on a felucca to visit the Philae Temple. In the evening, we went to bed early because we had to leave for Abu Simbel at 3am. All the tour buses had to go together with the escort of the police. Abu Simbel is one of the most amazing temple in Egypt. It's being moved from its original location piece by piece and then reconstructed at its present location. Before we got back to the hotel to have a rest, we checked out the high dam. In the late afternoon, we had a felucca trip on the Nile, and then the camels took us to a Nubian village to experience the local life.

JUN 16 - JUN 17 Luxor
Give Me Another Tea in Two Hours

In the morning, our van left Aswan and we arrived in Luxor around noon. In the afternoon, we had a chance to explore this city in a horse carriage. A guide introduced us the grand Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. The next day, we had an early start for the famous Valley of the Kings. It's sad to know that ancient tomb raiders took away most of the treasures in the valley. But the colorful painting on the walls could still tell us the glory of the Pharaohs. Then the van took us to the other side of the hill. There we visited the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut - who claimed to be "the Son of the Sun God". At night, we waited two hours at the railway station for the delayed train which followed "the Egyptian time". Turned out, it was derailed somewhere between Aswan and Luxor, so we had to switch to another one in the end...The cabin wasn't good for sleeping at all, very uncomfortable seats, stinky toilet, not enough space, freezing A/C, plus...too much caffeine!:)

JUN 18 - JUN 19 Cairo
If You Drink the Nile Water, You Will Come Back to Egypt.

Although everybody was tired because of the journey the night before, the tour must go on~ We visited the the Step Pyramid of King Zoser, which was one the oldest pyramid ever built. Then we went to one of the oldest Christian church in Egypt. The church here was of a different style compared to those I saw in Europe. My sightseeing in Egypt ended in the Khan el Khallili market. There Puala, Rob & I had some nice pancakes for lunch~ But I had to fight with the flies! Our last night together... We went on a floating restaurant. We watched the famous belly dance while having a buffet dinner. And a guy kept spinning till even the audience got dizzy. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and hanged out at the roof bar. No need to try Shaz's new Shisha pipe~ We got two pipes from the bar and people smoked it in turns like the locals did. I had never smoked before~ But I tried the shisha~ Just couldn't understand the fun of doing this~ Later, Rafic gave me and Lisa a night tour of Cairo while driving Michael to his cousin's. Next time if you travel to Cairo, remember: all the traffic lights are just decorations! The next day, I stayed in the hotel room till 4pm and enjoyed the A/C, then took a taxi to the airport. Luckily, this time I passed the immigration without any hassles. Time to board the plane... After a week's hustle and bustle in Egypt, I suddenly felt kind of relieved...