STA Explorer Andy of the Wandering Warburtons has paid a visit to Doctor Fish – it’s nothing serious, just a pedicure of sorts, but performed by fish, Garra Rufa to be precise,

“While wandering around we came across a Fish Foot Spa, which basically involves sticking your feet into a massive bowl of Doctor Fish (also called Garra Rufa) which then proceed to suck off all of the dead skin and dirt, leaving you with silky smooth, clean feet!”

Although not sure what to expect, Andy admits that unsurprisingly the sensation is akin to having 500-odd small fish sucking at your feet. He captured the experience on video and added a rather fitting, if not a little ironic, sound track…

You can see more photos on Flickr and read a little more in the full post – Phish Phood in Phuket.

The Wandering Warburtons have been, well err… wandering. This time from China to Thailand and they’ve taken in a few sights while doing so.

In Xi’an the weather wasn’t up to much but this didn’t stop them seeing the famous Terracotta Warriors – all 8000 of them. Their recent travelling, specifically moving from China to Hong Kong, is also worth noting if you’re keen to save some cash,

“At the moment, we’re in Chengdu having taken an overnight sleeper train from Xi’an, tomorrow we fly to Shenzhen and will then be crossing the border to Hong Kong. Shenzhen is just outside Hong Kong and by flying there instead of direct to Hong Kong is going to save us a few hundred quid – just because it’s on the other side of the border.”

Now that is a useful bit of knowledge. Andy and Steph visited Chengdu too and checked in on a Panda sanctuary, cue cute pictures! Andy also posted up three videos, more Panda action as well as a view from the top of ‘The Peak’ in Hong Kong.

We find them now in Phi Phi, Thailand and in Andy’s own words he’s ‘totally and utterly’ relaxed,

“The place we’re staying in at the moment is pretty much paradise. We can see the beach from our bungalow and it’s literally a ten second walk down to the shore. Nothing relaxes you more than waking up to the sound of waves crashing on the beach!”

Below is a video of Andy snorkelling (trying out his waterproof camera case) and, if you want to  avoid getting sunburnt, don’t follow the activity schedule mentioned in the other news section of this post…

In a post by Andy of the STA Explorer double team The Wandering Warburtons entitled Strange we are treated to the description of a caramel chocolate jelly frappuccino as served by the ubiquitous Starbucks (I’m not sure ‘ubiquitous’ is right in this context, omnipotent maybe?).

The post prompted a question on the types of Chinese food that had been consumed so far from one reader of the The Wandering Warburton’s blog. And beside Andy’s quip of a response on takeaway, they’ve actually done quite well by all accounts,

“The other day I had chicken and vegetables with rice noodles for breakfast! I’ve also had Sweet n Sour everything, various other dishes and Chinese ‘gypsy meat’ on a stick (God knows what it was, I think lamb but I can’t be sure).”

The Wandering Warburtons are in Beijing (the half that is Andy of our STA Explorer duo informed us so) and having a fairly fab time. As evidence of this I present the post Exploring Beijing that takes in Jingshan Park, the Forbidden City, Timinin Square and the Great Wall of China.

However it is not until now that Steph has entered the fray of blog writing, and in doing so has decided to give us a slightly different perspective from that provided thus far by Andy,

“Andy has pretty much told you all the facts of what we have been up to but hasn’t really said much about how it feels to be here!!”

If you want to know what it feels like to be in Beijing, you could do a lot worse than start with Steph’s thoughts, and you can also find out why she’s already had her photo taken a ‘million times’…

The Wandering Warburtons have landed in Beijing safe and sound. Andy has described the flight as almost perfect, even when picked out at random for a security shake down it wasn’t that bad,

“…especially since the police lady that interviewed me was young, friendly and pretty cute!”

The hotel in which they are staying is also without fault. It is known locally as HuTong, but also goes by the snappy name of “Sitting on the city Walls Courtyard House Hostel”. At the time of the post Steph, the other half of The Wandering Warburton’s, had collapsed on the bed for a short kip before the two of them go investigate the surrounding area. We’re looking forward to some first impressions.

Unfortunately Twitter and Facebook were not functioning for Andy, but he was still eager to hear from you via email and the comments section on his blog. Got a tip on what to do in Beijing? Then let him know.

STA Explorer the Travelteer, also known to many as Sara, is considering her decision to head to Africa.

In her post ‘Is this really a good idea?’ Sara tells of the escapades that befell her during the last official leaving do, a heady night in Oxford. Involving dares, piggy backs from strangers, attacking her boyfriend with a rose and 92 (or 9) shots of sambuca, the evening was nothing if not eventful. However, the loss (theft) of her wallet and the breaking of her camera and shoe got her thinking,

“Is me travelling on my own for five months really a good idea when I can’t even get through a night out in Oxford in one piece!”

Sara I’m sure you’ll be fine; and besides, you did get through your night in Oxford, just a little worse for wear. Last night also saw The Wandering Warburton’s last leaving bash…

Andy our Scientist Studying the World has already given his answer to the question we posed in line with STA Travel’s 30th birthday and therefore 30 years of experience – ‘how has travel changed over the last 30 years?’ Now it is the turn of The Wandering Warburtons to give their thoughts, who have, as you can probably tell by the piccy, just got back from Pisa!

Andy plays the ‘I’m too young to answer this question’ card early,

“As a 27 year old, I’m probably not as well placed as some to answer this question, but I can remember going abroad was a much bigger deal when I was younger, compared to now. From what I recall in the 80s package holidays were the norm, that is hotel, flights and transfers all in one deal – usually to a limited number of destinations.”

Andy notes that now hopping on a plane is a relatively easy process, so much so that trips between cities in the UK can in some cases cost less then heading along the ground. The other point, and one that he agrees with Andy on, is that music has become an almost essential part travel. He mentions that travelling without his iPhone is unthinkable,

“So much functionality in one little device. It even allows me to save money on calls by using Skype from a wifi network to ring home for practically nothing! What more could you want from a device?”

Thanks for your thoughts Andy. With two out of two mentioning music I’m beginning to think we should incorporate it into the next meet-up some how? If you have suggestions on this and/or more thoughts on the changing ways in which we travel let us know.