Kate's Round the World Blog

New Zealand

2008-05-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

We are now in the south island of New Zealand. It is very beautiful. There are lots of mountains, lakes and rivers.

We are travelling around New Zealand in a camper van. It is Autumn here and it's a bit cold!

Young people in New Zealand like to do extreme sports! We floated down this river on surf boards! The waves were very high. We went very fast!

Other young people like to do bungee jumping. It was very high and looked scary.

Our favourite bit so far was our day walking on the Fox Glacier.

Syndey

2008-05-12T03:35:00.001-07:00

This week, we have visited Sydney. Sydney is a big city on the east coast of Australia.

Sydney is famous for its big harbour bridge.
It is also famous for Sydney Opera House. It is very beautiful.

In Sydney, young people like to go surfing. It looks very difficult.

Other people like to stay fit by jogging in the park. We saw lots of young and old people jogging.

Our favourite place was the aquarium. I liked the seals.

We got to watch the seals swim in an underwater tunnel.

Paul liked the sharks best. They were a bit scary when we saw them underwater!

Perth

2008-05-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

We are now in Perth. Perth is a big city in Australia. This is a photo of Perth.

Australia is a lot like England. People speak English and live in houses like ours in England. All children go to school. Tap water is clean and safe to drink.

It is winter here, but it is still very warm. It was warm enough to try water skiing!

In Australia they have huge trees called Tingles. Look how small Paul looks!

They have lots of different animals that we don't have in England. We have seen dolphins.

I liked feeding the kangaroos.

The koalas look very cuddly and are always sleeping!

China

2008-04-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

We have been in China for 2 weeks and we really like it. In China, the cities are very big.

There are small towns and parks with beautiful old buidings. There are lots of mountains.

People like to be healthy. Old people do tai chi in the morning. Younger people do aerobics in the street!

Families are important in China. In Shangri-La, the old and young Tibetan people dance in the square every night.

The tap water is still too dirty to drink. In China, people boil water and drink it warm. They like to drink lots of tea.

My favourite day was when we went to see the pandas. They eat bamboo and sleep a lot.

The baby pandas were very cute.

This panda had gone to sleep in a tree!

Halong Bay

2008-03-24T04:37:00.000-07:00

We have been to visit Halong Bay. It is at sea, near Hanoi. There are lots of rocky islands, which are very beautiful.
We went to Halong Bay with our friend, Ben.

We sailed in a boat called a junk, like this one.

Around the islands there are floating villages. Most people who live here are fishermen and their families.

The children work with their parents during the day. Many help their mums to sell fruit and drinks to tourists.

There is one school. Children go to school in the evenings, after they have worked all day. This school was paid for by the British Embassy.

The children row themselves to school in boats. They go on their own, without any adults.

Vietnam

2008-03-18T03:35:00.000-07:00

We are now in Vietnam. Vietnam is bigger than Cambodia and there is lots to see. We have seemlots of statues of dragons. This one is in Ho Chi Minh City.
In Vietnam, most people travel on scooters and motor bikes. It is very difficult to cross the road.

Lots of young people use scooters or bicycles to get to school. They give their friends a lift on the back. It looks dangerous!

There are lots of beautiful pagodas, where people pray and burn incence.

We have learnt about the Vietnam War that happened in the 1970's. This is a plane that the American army used. We have learnt that this war was very sad.

We have been to the mountains. There were lots of waterfalls. More houses have water here, but we still have to drink specially cleaned water. The water from taps is too dirty to drink.

My favourite thing about the mountains was riding on a rollercoaster! It was very fast.

Questions and Answers

2008-03-08T03:41:00.000-08:00

This week, the students at Breakspeare have sent me some questions that I will answer:

1. What have you liked best so far?

I liked riding and swimming with the elephants in Thailand best. I also liked seeing the mountains in the Himalayas.

2. What has been hardest?

I have missed seeing all of my friends and family in England.

3. If you can’t drink water, what do you do?

The tap water is too dirty to drink in Asia. You have to buy bottled water that has been made clean. We have also bought some tablets that we can put in water to make it safe to drink.

4. What are the toilets like?

Most toilets are like a hole in the ground. They are not as clean as in England. In most hotels, we have had toilets like we have in England.

5. Have you been to the seaside?

Yes. We went to the sea side in Thailand and in Cambodia. The beach was very sandy and the sea was warm.

6. What is the music like?

We have heard lots of music like we have at home. In India they really like pop music. Every county has it’s own style of traditional music. People use special drums, flutes and string instruments like a guitar or violin.

7. Did you ride on any camels?

Yes I did. It was fun, but very uncomfortable. I rode it in the desert in India.

8. Is there snow in Cambodia and Thailand?

There hasn’t been any snow in Cambodia or Thailand. It is very warm here all year around.

9. Is there TV in these countries? And fire alarms?

There is TV. Not everyone is rich enough to have them at home, though. I have not seen any fire alarms.

10. Apart from river boats are there buses for children to get to school?

Children get to school on buses, on bikes or by walking.

11. Do you sleep on a bed or the floor?

We have slept in beds. We have seen some people sleeping in hammocks.

12. Do you have an oven to cook your dinner?

No. We have had to eat at cafes and restaurants. We have eaten lots of rice and noodles. We did a cooking in lesson in Cambodia and we cooked on hobs with pans and woks.

13. Have you been on a boat?

Yes. We traveled to a place in Cambodia called Battambang on a boat that went down a river. We went on a boat to an island that was in the sea, called Koh Chang, in Thailan.

14. Have you seen any big cats?

Yes, In India, we saw a tiger in the jungle. It was very big and very beautiful.

15. Where are you going next?

We have just got to Vietnam. We will be traveling around here for 3 weeks and then we go to China.

Thanks for your questions!

Cambodia

2008-02-26T03:59:00.000-08:00

We are now in Cambodia. This week we have visited lots of old temples at a place called Angkor.
This temple was in the film Tomb Raider.

We went on a boat trip and saw lots of floating villages. The children in these villages go to schools that float as well.

We have seen lots of people fishing in the lakes and rivers.

People often do not have water in their homes, like in India and Nepal. In one village, people had water pumps in their gardens which had been paid for by people in England and America. You can just see one in this picture.

Thailand

2008-02-19T05:59:00.000-08:00

In Thailand, we have been to the beaches.

We have been to see some beautiful Buddhist temples,

We have also ridden on an elephant! The elephant was called An-Na and was 13 years old.

There was also a baby elephant called Mali.

On the island we stayed at, we had no water in our room, but had to wash by scooping water out of a big water tank. The elephants enjoyed having a bath in the river.

Children and young people in Bangkok (the capital city) enjoy going out shopping with their friends.

In the Himalayas

2008-02-08T02:21:00.000-08:00

This week, we have been trekking (walking) in the Himalayan mountain area. We got to see some very big mountains, that are so high, they always have snow on the top.

We walked up a very high hill, called Poon Hill. It was 3210 metres high!

Low down in the valleys, it was very warm and there were orange trees growing.

Higher up, it was much colder and there was lots of snow and ice.

We saw lots of beautiful villages in the valleys.

In all of the villages, people got their water from a shared water tap. They wash their clothes and dishes here and use the water for drinking and cooking with. You can see one of these taps in this picture.

Nepal

2008-02-01T03:15:00.000-08:00

I am now in Nepal. Both Paul and I like it here very much.

In Nepal the year is 2065, not 2008 like it is at home. In Nepal, they have a different calendar. This is a picture of Paul at a plaque that shows a shrine was built in 2062.

We have seen lots of people carrying goods, like fire wood and vegetables on their backs. At home, these would be carried in a car or van. The people we see, often have to carry their loads up very big hills.

Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal. There are lots and lots of Buddhist and Hindu shrines and temples in Kathmandu. They mean a great deal to the people here. The monkeys seem to like them too!

The hinu temples are very beautiful, with lots of decoration. This is Paul stood infront of the largest one in the main square.

There are lots of smaller temples around the streets.

These two pictures are of Buddhist shrines, called stupas. They are very, very big. People walk around them and say prayers.

Many people in Kathmandu do not have running water in their homes. Women meet up at water tanks to wash their clothes. This was one of the biggest and busiest water tanks that we saw.

Most towns and villages have primary schools, but children often have to go to secondary schools in bigger cities. If the school is very far away, the children can board at the school - they live at the school and go home at weekends and holidays.

Children go to school from Sunday to Friday. They have Saturdays off. In school they have English, English grammar, maths, science, Nepali and PE lessons

Voices, TV, computers and clothes - answers to last week's questions

2008-01-22T04:47:00.000-08:00

I am still travelling in India. I have been to Jaipur and Agra this week.

I have spoken to lots of people in India. Lots of people speak English, but most people speak Hindi as their first language. People's voices do sound a bit different as they have a different accent here. They say words a bit differently to how we say them in England.

In India, lots of people do have television. Some people have satellite TV with lots of channels. There are lots of internet cafes where I write these blogs for you.
Many people are very poor in India and do not have TV or computers. Lots of people are so poor that they do not have homes and live on the streets.

Lots of people wear different clothes to what we wear in England. Here are some photos of people I have met:

These people are wearing their traditional clothes. The ladies wear saris and the men wear turbans on their heads.

This is a holy man who we met in a temple. He wears a special saffron (orange) robe.

These ladies are dancing in their saris. They are very pretty colours.

This is Saleem who looked after us when we rode our camels. He wears a long white shirt and white trousers. This is because he is a Muslim, but also keeps him cool in the desert.

This is Usman. He drove us around Udaipur. He wore a shirt and trousers, just like men do in England (Just like John!)

Rajasthan

2008-01-15T04:46:00.000-08:00

This week, I have been to Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, which are all towns in Rajasthan, in India.

In the cities, I have seen lots of children going to school on their bicycles. They all wear uniforms, like in England. Not all children go to school. Some families are very poor and the children have to work. In the countryside, some children look after goats.

It is Winter in India too, but here it is very hot and dry. Rivers are very empty and farmers fields are very dry.

In the summer, there will be a monsoon, when lots of rain will fall. The rivers will be bigger and the crops will grow.

In villages, people do not have water in their homes. They get their water from pumps and from water holes. Ladies walk a long way carrying water in pots on their heads.

I have enjoyed travelling in Rajasthan. I have ridden a camel. It was very bumpy!

People have been very friendly and gave me these flowers and a bindi for good luck.

I am in Mumbai, in India

2008-01-04T23:46:00.000-08:00

In Mumbai, people mainly eat curry, but people also eat pizza. It is much spicier than in England!

Some people do not have water in their homes. If they do, it is often too dirty to drink. Tankers bring clean water from outside the city.

People buy their food in markets and carry what they have bought in baskets on their heads.

You can buy bananas in much bigger bunches than we can in England.

People travel around the city in buses, taxis and on bikes.

The roads are very busy.