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Ocean to Jungle
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Ocean to Jungle

If you’re looking for a more personal, behind-the-scenes look at my travels, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve been sharing my travel experiences since 2014, documenting adventures across more than 50 countries — from remote islands and bustling cities to hidden wildlife hotspots and off-the-beaten-path destinations.

Here, you’ll find my travel blogs, packed with personal stories, tips, and reflections on the places I’ve explored. While my travel guides focus on practical advice and planning, these posts let you experience my journey alongside me — the highs, the surprises, and the unforgettable moments.

  • World-Class Birding in Manizales
    Colombia Blog South America
    World-Class Birding in Manizales

    From Jardín, our journey continued along some of the most scenic roads in Colombia towards the city of Manizales. Nestled in the Central Andes range, Manizales sits at a higher altitude of around 2,150 metres and is surrounded by diverse ecosystems, including cloud forests and montane rainforests. It also lies in the shadow of Nevado…

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  • The birding starts in Jardín
    Colombia Blog South America
    The birding starts in Jardín

    If you’re a regular follower of my blog, you might have noticed a significant trend over the last year we’ve been travelling… More and more birds popping up in the posts. Yeah… sorry about that 😂 I’ve always been into wildlife, more than the average person, for sure, and most of my travels in my…

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  • Medellín: From Notorious to Noteworthy
    Blog Colombia South America
    Medellín: From Notorious to Noteworthy

    So… We were supposed to be going to Panama next, to complete the journey through central America, then fly onward to Colombia afterwards. But as I was starting to seriously plan the Panama trip (aka looking the land border crossing, the bus to David, then a bus to Almirante (the port for boats to Bocas…

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  • Corcovado: Costa Rica’s last wild frontier?
    Blog Central America Costa Rica
    Corcovado: Costa Rica’s last wild frontier?

    Our next stop in Costa Rica was the biggy – Corcovado National Park. Located on the Osa Peninsula, on the south west coast, this region is a biodiversity hotspot, it’s the most biodiverse place in central America, not just Costa Rica. It’s a lowland rainforest, think hot steamy jungle, with brown muddy rivers, crocodiles, sloths,…

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  • Finding peace (and Quetzals) in San Gerado de Dota
    Blog Central America Costa Rica
    Finding peace (and Quetzals) in San Gerado de Dota

    Since we’d had such a hard time spotting Quetzals in Guatemala – we tried three separate places with no luck, I hedged my bets here in Costa Rica, and although we’d already had an amazing Quetzal experience in Monteverde, our next stop was another quetzal haven (just in case we hadn’t seen one) and was…

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  • Resplendent Monteverde: Quetzals, Clouds and Hanging Bridges
    Blog Central America Costa Rica
    Resplendent Monteverde: Quetzals, Clouds and Hanging Bridges

    When I think of Costa Rica, for me, the first thing that springs to mind is dense cloud forest, high in the mountains, full of birds and wildlife, with bridges suspended high in the canopy…. That’s the Costa Rica I’ve seen on TV in documentaries and on social media, and it’s the Costa Rica I…

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  • La Fortuna: Frogs, forests and free hot springs
    Blog Central America Costa Rica
    La Fortuna: Frogs, forests and free hot springs

    Miguel dropped us at the bus stop in Katira, a town on main road towards La Fortuna in the Rio Celeste region. We didn’t have to wait long until a direct bus turned up, and(!) we got seats this time! 🥳 The bus was big and comfortable, meaning we could really relax and enjoy the…

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  • Sloths and Snakes in Rio Celeste
    Blog Central America Costa Rica
    Sloths and Snakes in Rio Celeste

    Next stop in Costa Rica was the Rio Celeste region. Here, two clear rivers (the Quebrada Agria and Río Buena Vista) meet. One is slightly acidic, the other is rich in aluminosilicate particles, both thanks to the local volcanic activity. When they merge, the change in pH causes the particles to clump together in just…

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  • Liberia: the gateway to Rincon de la Vieja
    Blog Central America Costa Rica
    Liberia: the gateway to Rincon de la Vieja

    Costa Rica has been at the top of my travel list for a long long time. I am a big wildlife lover and pretty much all of my trips in the last 6 years have been wildlife focused, from hiking to see wildlife mountain gorillas in Uganda, a snorkelling expedition in Philippines, Mashpi Lodge and…

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  • Sunsets in San Juan del Sur
    Blog Central America Nicaragua
    Sunsets in San Juan del Sur

    After a great few days on Ometepe, we moved on to our final destination in Nicaragua, the beach town of San Juan Del Sur. Admittedly, neither of us really wanted to come here(!) we wanted to visit the amazing beaches of Nicaragua’s Pacific coast line, but we’d heard San Juan town was not the nicest,…

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  • Petroglyphs and Motorbiking on Ometepe Island
    Blog Central America Nicaragua
    Petroglyphs and Motorbiking on Ometepe Island

    From the lagoon we got a taxi to the nearest town of Masaya. Before entering Nicaragua we’d heard that it wasn’t the safest country (only in terms of petty crime like theft etc) and we’d been advised to get tourist shuttles and avoid local transport like buses, which is what we’d done so far. But…

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  • Wildlife and Peace at Laguna Apoyo
    Blog Central America Nicaragua
    Wildlife and Peace at Laguna Apoyo

    Never one to follow the Gingro Trail exactly, we had a look to see if there were any lesser known spots in Nicaragua we could stay. Tourist infrastructure isn’t as well developed here, so staying in smaller towns can be a little harder, or at least pricier. But Laguna Apoyo stuck out as somewhere worth…

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  • Granada: Hot Streets and Cold Peaks!
    Blog Central America Nicaragua
    Granada: Hot Streets and Cold Peaks!

    Our next stop in Nicaragua was the pretty, colonial city of Granada on the shores of Lake Nicaragua and in the shadow of Mount Mombacho, another active volcano. We had booked 4 nights here as there seemed to be a lot to do in the region. We looked at public transport and all the buses…

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  • Viva León!
    Blog Central America Nicaragua
    Viva León!

    After a bleary-eyed 2:45am pickup from our apartment in El Zonte, we finally bagged the best seats on the shuttle – marginal win! With a quick stop in El Tunco to scoop up a few more travellers, we were soon winding our way towards Nicaragua, ready to trade surf towns for smoky volcanoes, political murals,…

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  • Facing the waves in El Zonte
    Blog Central America El Salvador
    Facing the waves in El Zonte

    We hadn’t planned to stay too long in El Salvador – more to claim back some days from staying longer than expected in Guatemala! We had planned to visit Honduras next overland on our way to Nicaragua, but just at the start of this year the Honduran government changed it’s entry requirements for British citizens…

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  • Surprising Santa Ana
    Blog Central America El Salvador
    Surprising Santa Ana

    From Juayua we got the public bus to Santa Ana, which is direct for just $0.70 each. However we had to wait a while, we heard the bus goes every hour at 10 past, so at about 11am we headed outside the hostel. We were on the street where the bus would go down, turn…

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  • A-maze-ing Ruta de las Flores
    Blog Central America El Salvador
    A-maze-ing Ruta de las Flores

    Our time in Guatemala was at an end, and so we booked a shuttle to take us across the border into another new country for the both of us; El Salvador. We booked with Gekko Travel, but a G Adventures bus is what eventually picked us up (about 40 minutes late). It had come from…

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  • Motmots, Volcanoes and Alfombras in Antigua
    Blog Central America Guatemala
    Motmots, Volcanoes and Alfombras in Antigua

    To get from San Marcos on Lake Atitlan to Antigua Guatemala by public bus looked like a bit of a mission, with potentially 5 different buses changing in 4 towns… So we booked a tourist shuttle to take us for Q140 each which we didn’t think was bad for such a long journey. We arrived…

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  • Exploring Lake Atitlan
    Blog Central America Guatemala
    Exploring Lake Atitlan

    From the city of Xela it’s only about a 2.5 hour drive to the scenic Lago Atitlan, nestled in a mountainous cloud forest region surrounded by volcanoes. We were super excited to visit. We headed to the main Xela bus terminal in a £1 Uber, and then some locals helped us find the bus to…

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  • Unexpected Birding in Xela
    Blog Central America Guatemala
    Unexpected Birding in Xela

    The next stop in our Guatemala adventure is the town of Quetzaltenango, also known as Xela (sheh-lah), since its original name in the Kʼicheʼ Maya language was Xelajú Noj. We wanted to come here for another slice of authenticity. Basically, we’ve heard that although Antigua Guatemala (Old Guatemala city) and the towns around Lake Atitlan…

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  • Seeking Quetzals in Cobán
    Blog Central America Guatemala
    Seeking Quetzals in Cobán

    We returned to Flores from Tikal and planned to leave the next morning at 8am on a shuttle to Cobán. We booked a shuttle as I couldn’t find a reliable way to get to Cobán on public buses, especially since the journey requires a river ferry crossing too. The shuttle was reasonably priced and would…

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  • Incredible Wildlife and Ruins at Tikal
    Blog Central America Guatemala
    Incredible Wildlife and Ruins at Tikal

    From San Ignacio in Belize our next stop was Flores in Northern Guatemala. Once again we waited at the bus stop for over an hour to get a bus to the border town of Benque, then hopped in a short taxi ride to the actual border. Entering Guatemala had to be one of the easiest…

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  • Sweating in San Ignacio
    Blog Belize Central America
    Sweating in San Ignacio

    The next leg of our journey takes us inland towards Guatemala to the popular town of San Ignacio in Belize, close to the border. We had planned on getting the bus again from Dangriga, it would have been the same one we got there, but Robbie and Ciara who we met in Tobacco Caye were…

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  • Taking it Easy in Tobacco Caye
    Blog Belize Central America
    Taking it Easy in Tobacco Caye

    The next part of our trip had been in discussion for a long time. We’d initially looked at a 3 day sailing trip from Caye Caulker to Dangriga, but when we watched some videos about the trip it looked like a bit of a fishing frenzy, where they catch the food for the days on…

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  • Chilling in Caye Caulker
    Blog Belize Central America
    Chilling in Caye Caulker

    Now the next leg of our journey continues into Belize. There is a boat which can take you from Chetumal in South Mexico direct to the islands of Belize without passing through Belize city and avoiding buses and long waits. We booked the San Pedro Express Water Taxi boat which goes from a private pier…

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  • Beautiful Bacalar
    Blog Central America Mexico
    Beautiful Bacalar

    So far in our trip the one thing which has surprised us the most in Mexico, is how expensive it has been. I’d looked into it before leaving obviously, but everything seems to have crept up in price in the last few years, notably food and activities. It’s interesting that on Google maps you can…

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  • Carnival in Campeche
    Blog Central America Mexico
    Carnival in Campeche

    The bus from Merida to Campeche was super cheap as we checked the ADO website and were able to book one of the times (which so happened to be the perfect time coinciding with check-out and check-ins) for 50% off, so it was only 180 pesos or about £7 each! Unfortunately, it was absolutely FREEZING…

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  • Falling for Mérida
    Blog Central America Mexico
    Falling for Mérida

    Our journey continued deeper into the Yucatan peninsula as we continued along the highway to Merida. One note for future travellers, ADO buses are FREEZING cold! And I’m so glad I brought warm clothes like my leggings and hoodie, as it would have been pretty unbearable without them! It’s also a good idea to book…

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  • Valladolid: Mexico’s ‘Northern Quarter’
    Blog Central America Mexico
    Valladolid: Mexico’s ‘Northern Quarter’

    We got the boat back from Cozumel in mid morning, before walking back through Playa to catch an ADO bus to Valladolid. The “bus” wasn’t quite a bus and was more of a minivan. We were on the back row – which was 4 seats and there definitely wasn’t enough space! We were squished the…

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  • First stop, Mexico: Cozumel island
    Blog Central America Mexico
    First stop, Mexico: Cozumel island

    Our first stop on this 5 month adventure through central and south America is Mexico, thanks in part to the direct and super cheap flights with TUI from Manchester to Cancun (£314 one way, £320 return!). I’ve done this trip before and the flight, although long at over 10 hours, is quite painless as it’s…

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  • The Journey Continues…
    Blog Thoughts on Travel
    The Journey Continues…

    In June 2024 we quit our jobs to travel for one year. We’re now just over 7 months in and what a wild ride it has been, but not without it’s challenges. As everything on this blog will elude to, I LOVE travelling, it is 100% my happy place, but this year I’ve had to…

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  • Spotted in Singapore
    Asia Blog Singapore
    Spotted in Singapore

    Our flight back to Europe was from Singapore, as we thought this was a good central location in South East Asia to get back to from anywhere, and we were right, the flight from Bali to Singapore was good value, and gave us 2 nights for some sightseeing in the city. We landed in the…

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  • Flying visit to Komodo National Park
    Asia Blog East Nusa Tenggara Indonesia
    Flying visit to Komodo National Park

    I have a LOT of pins in my Google maps of places I’d like to visit… And I’ve had a pin in Komodo for as long as I can remember. The Komodo dragons are a fascinating species, endemic to the region, these monsters also have venom and harsh bacteria in their saliva which slowly kill…

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  • Finding Bali Roadtrip
    Asia Bali Blog Indonesia
    Finding Bali Roadtrip

    Both Dave and I have been to Bali before. In my first visit I came full of anticipation after hearing tens of positive opinions of Bali, and how beautiful and spiritual it was. However, I left after about 10 days feeling oversold… I found Bali crowded, touristy, commercial and overrated. I left Bali and went…

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  • Snorkelling in Permuteran
    Asia Bali Blog Indonesia
    Snorkelling in Permuteran

    From Probolinggo in East Java, we got another train to the coastal town of Ketapang. I’d been here before a few years ago when I attempted to climb Ijen. But this time, Dave and I were just foot passengers, so it was a lot easier. We bought our ticket from the Alfamart across the road…

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  • Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) during a purple pink sunrise in East Java, Indonesia
    Asia Blog Indonesia Java
    Sunrise and comets over Bromo

    From Yogyakarta we got the train further East towards Probolinggo, the gateway to the volcano of East Java. We hadn’t been very lucky so far with our volcano experiences in Indonesia. Mount Sibayak and Sinabung in Sumatra had hidden from us under cloud,  as had Mount Merapi in Central Java. We’d seen a few out…

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  • Ancient Temples in Yogyakarta
    Asia Blog Indonesia Java
    Ancient Temples in Yogyakarta

    We flew from Medan to Jakarta for a flying visit, which consisted of basically eating, walking to a park which was closed, then sleeping in a capsule/pod hotel. In hindsight, we should have flown direct to Yogya, but the price of the flight to Jarkarta was about half, so it was definitely worth the savings….

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  • Fascinating Lake Toba
    Asia Blog Indonesia Sumatra
    Fascinating Lake Toba

    From Berastagi, we continued onward towards Lake Toba. 74,000 years ago, the Toba eruption was one of the biggest volcanic eruptions in the history of the planet (well, in the last 25 million years, as Dave tells me). It was a VEI (Volcanic Explosivity Index) of 8, which is the highest on the scale –…

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  • Sunrise Hike to Mount Sibayak
    Asia Blog Indonesia Sumatra
    Sunrise Hike to Mount Sibayak

    After Bukit Lawang we wanted to travel south towards Lake Toba and a brief stop off at the town of Berastagi. Berastagi is saddled between 2 of Sumatra’s active volcanoes, mount Sinabung (on the FCDO red list because of it’s potential for violent, and often deadly, eruptions) and mount Sibayak, which is fairly stable and…

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  • Birthday Orangutans in Bukit Lawang
    Asia Blog Indonesia Sumatra
    Birthday Orangutans in Bukit Lawang

    Before we even decided to quit our jobs and go backpacking, we’d both spoken about our desires to visit more of Indonesia. We’ve both been here before and loved it. For me, the lush green jungles are just as amazing as the underwater, with so many endemic species on land, and some of the best…

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  • City Living in KL
    Asia Blog Malaysia
    City Living in KL

    On our journey to Indonesia, we decided to make a quick pit stop in KL, mostly because of the convenience and price of the flights – direct flights from Hat Yai were cheap and then onward to Medan also very cheap. I have been to Malaysia before, and for me, it was one of the…

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  • Sunsets in Koh Lipe
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Sunsets in Koh Lipe

    After a few days snorkelling in Koh Tao, we were enjoying the sea, but wanted to try somewhere different, so decided to change coastlines, from the eastern Gulf of Thailand, to the west Andaman sea. We got a boat to Surat Thani and then a minivan to Hat Yai, where we stayed for one night…

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  • Snorkelling in Koh Tao
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Snorkelling in Koh Tao

    After travelling through India and Thailand, we really missed the underwater world. Both of us love the sea, Dave is a big swimmer and just enjoys being in the sea all the time, mask or no mask, but I love watching the underwater world. But, I think I’ve also converted Dave into a snorkeller now…

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  • Prachuap’s perfection revisited
    Thailand Asia Blog
    Prachuap’s perfection revisited

    10 years ago solo backpacking through South East Asia, the town of Prachuap Khiri Khan, in the state of the same name, was one of my favourite towns that I visited. The town is on a beach flanked by green hills, beautiful beaches and at the weekend, has the most amazing authentic night market. There…

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  • Thailand train travel
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Thailand train travel

    We were loving getting the train so far in Thailand, it was reliable, clean and incredibly cheap. Especially for the ordinary 3rd class fan seating. But we were starting to feel the pull of the ocean, since we haven’t worn any of our snorkelling gear, rash vests or swimwear for about 6 weeks now (not…

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  • Floating in Amphawa
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Floating in Amphawa

    In previous visits to Thailand, I had heard about the floating markets in and around Bangkok, but I had also heard that they were very touristy and not really authentic, just tourist attractions. However on our trip south from Bangkok, I decided to give one a go, it’s low season after all, and even if…

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  • Baking in Ayutthaya
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Baking in Ayutthaya

    Ten years ago I went solo backpacking through South East Asia. Although I was solo, I made many friends along the way, and was even joined by some friends from home… I came to Ayutthaya with Dan, who was visiting from the UEA at the time. We got the train from Bangkok to Ayutthaya and…

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  • Wildlife spotting in Khao Yai
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Wildlife spotting in Khao Yai

    Last time I came to Thailand I had a second hand pair of mini binoculars I’d bought off eBay for 99p haha, and I went to countless national parks across Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia hoping to see a hornbill, which is one of my favourite birds. In 8 months, I didn’t see a single one 😞…

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  • Bagless in Bangkok
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Bagless in Bangkok

    We flew from Leh back to Delhi to spend one night near the airport before our onward flight to Bangkok, and unfortunately our Indigo Flight didn’t put ANY baggage on the plane at all… So we all arrived in Delhi with delayed bags. Since we were flying out the next day, it seemed unlikely we…

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  • Breathtaking Leh, Ladakh
    Asia Blog India
    Breathtaking Leh, Ladakh

    Leh, in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir had already been on our list of places to visit during our time in India, but after the flooding in the South, and a melting heatwave in Delhi, we were searching for a place in India with better weather. And Leh has just that. In July…

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  • Love/hate relationship with Delhi
    Asia Blog India
    Love/hate relationship with Delhi

    We landed from Goa into Delhi, and the airport at Goa already gave us an incline of what was to come… We’d heard that the south of India was more chill and a nice introduction, but we were heading to Delhi, one of the most populous cities in the world. Chaos levels were about to…

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  • The real monsoon in Kerala and Karnataka
    Asia Blog India
    The real monsoon in Kerala and Karnataka

    Dave and I always said “the real backpacking starts in India”, since the last 2 and a bit weeks in the Maldives were more like a holiday (despite having our backpacks and island hopping). We landed in Cochin international airport and I have to say, it was a wonderful experience. I think when you think…

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  • Surprising Hulhumale
    Asia Blog The Maldives
    Surprising Hulhumale

    We planned to return to Malé to get our onward flight with a buffer day. Just to make sure that there were no boat delays (we heard during monsoon season, storms can cancel the boats completely) and to ensure we could do our laundry and sort our bags out before our flight to India. So…

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  • Eagle Ray in the Maldives
    Asia Blog The Maldives
    Saving Money in Mahibadhoo

    In order to try and save a little bit of money and be more on a budget than we have been so far, (I mean, we have to make our savings last a year to be fair!!). We chose to take the slow ferry from South Ari Atoll back to Malé. This ferry goes from…

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  • Monsoon in Dhigurah
    Asia Blog The Maldives
    Monsoon in Dhigurah

    To get to most atolls in the Maldives often requires a transfer back to, then from Malé again, since although inter-atoll ferries seem to be common, there are seemingly none which go between the different atolls… So on Wednesday, the plan was to first take a speed boat from Fulhadhoo, Baa Atoll (at 7am) back…

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  • a huge manta ray feeding off the coast of Fulhadhoo turns in the water touching the surface with its fin
    Asia Blog The Maldives
    Fulhadhoo: The Maldives Hidden Gem

    From Dharavandhoo, we were due to take public ferries over to Fulhadhoo. I found a timetable on the MTCC website which showed a public dhoni from Dharavandhoo to Eydhafushi at 9.05am and then Eydhafushi to Fulhadhoo at 2:15pm. However, the night before we were trying to confirm the boat times and found contradictory information. The…

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  • Clown Surgeonfish in the maldives
    Asia Blog The Maldives
    Manta “stand-by” in Dharavandhoo

    Our first destination for our big trip is Dharavandhoo, an island in the Baa Atoll of the Maldives. We came here for two reasons. First, the close proximity to Hanifaru Bay – famous for it’s giant schools (up to several hundred at a time) of Manta rays which come here in the summer months from…

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  • walking along the boardwalk in male, the maldives with my 2 backpacks really backpacking maldives
    Asia Blog The Maldives
    The start of a long journey…

    Well, we finally made it. We quit our jobs, I rented out my flat, we sold a lot of things and packed up the rest of our lives into storage, and here we are. First destination, The Maldives. But the Maldives are a collection of several atolls, split further into individual islands. The airport is…

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  • We’re out and ready to go!
    Blog Thoughts on Travel
    We’re out and ready to go!

    Wow, what a weekend!! What a week!! And honestly it still doesn’t feel real that we’re going… Dave sold his car this week, so this weekend we hired a car from the airport to help us with the last runs to the storage. Emptying the flat took a little longer, and a lot more boxes,…

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  • How to quit your job and go backpacking
    Blog Thoughts on Travel
    How to quit your job and go backpacking

    The last time I went backpacking, I had just finished my PhD. I had been living for free in student accommodation as a welfare tutor, and I had next nothing in terms of wordly possessions. I remember thinking about what to do with my stuff, I already had a self-storage in the UK, since my…

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  • How to ruin a Safari in Tanzania
    Blog Africa Tanzania
    How to ruin a Safari in Tanzania

    We got met at the border at Namanga in Tanzania by someone from Mousebird Safaris, a company I had picked because of the high reviews on safaribooking.com. But we still had a fairly long drive to get to Arusha for the night before starting our safari the next day. Unfortunately, to add to the long…

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  • Safari in Amboseli National Park
    Africa Blog Kenya
    Safari in Amboseli National Park

    I had booked my flights to Kenya and Tanzania long before I met Dave, but after being together only 6 weeks I was destined to fly to Nairobi for 10 days over New Years. I invited him to come with me, and amazingly, he said yes! So this ended up being our first holiday together….

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  • Sick on Siquijor
    Philippines Asia Blog
    Sick on Siquijor

    From Bohol, I got the public ferry over to Siquijor, a relatively small island just off the larger island of Negros. Siquijor seemed a little less touristy compared to everywhere else I’d been, but still had a good tourist infrastructure and nice places to stay. I decided to treat myself and booked a fairly fancy…

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  • Biking in Bohol
    Philippines Asia Blog
    Biking in Bohol

    Planning my trip to the Philippines was one of the hardest, actually. Because there are so many places I want to visit and see. This trip, I only have just over 2 weeks, so to do all the things I wanted without feeling rushed was a challenge. I think the amount of time I spent…

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  • Sleeping in El Nido
    Philippines Asia Blog
    Sleeping in El Nido

    Unfortunately, my holiday eventually caught up to me, and whether it was something from the plane, maybe too much boozing in Coron, or exerting myself snorkelling too much, but by the time I got to my hotel in El Nido, I was FULL of a cold… I had booked to stay here for 3 days,…

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  • The Ultimate Snorkeling Experience – Coron to El Nido Expedition
    Philippines Asia Blog
    The Ultimate Snorkeling Experience – Coron to El Nido Expedition

    Now the real adventure was starting, and I booked something a little bit different to usual. I am not normally into group tours, but as I was looking into the “best snorkelling in the Philippines”, I found several companies operating this “expedition” they called it, which is a one way trip from Coron to El…

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  • From Manila to Coron
    Blog Asia Philippines
    From Manila to Coron

    I landed in Manila in the afternoon after a good flight, which cost me next to nothing in the end, as I was finally able to use some airmiles to book a flight! Unfortunately, I landed with a migraine, so it was straight to the room and in bed with some sumatriptan. Luckily, I decided…

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  • A Long Weekend in Kefalonia
    Blog Europe Greece
    A Long Weekend in Kefalonia

    Working full time, I am always trying to maximise my holidays, and bank holidays in the UK are always a great time to take a long weekend and get 4-5 days off for just 1-2 days vacation leave. However, if you’re going away for such a short amount of time, it’s hard to justify taking…

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  • In search of Hammerheads on San Cristobal (Galapagos)
    Blog Ecuador Galapagos Islands South America
    In search of Hammerheads on San Cristobal (Galapagos)

    With my time on the Galapagos almost at the end, and indeed my whole Ecuador trip nearly ended, I had one destination left, the inhabited island of San Cristobal. I took a short 8-seater flight from Isabela island to San Cristobal, which was insanely cool, mostly just for the views. The Galapagos is famous for…

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  • Island Life on Isabela (Galapagos)
    Blog Ecuador Galapagos Islands South America
    Island Life on Isabela (Galapagos)

    I left Santa Cruz early in the morning to get the public ferry over to Isabela island. The journey was amazing, and I saw SOOO MANY Giant Mantas from the boat, especially since I was sat on the top deck with the driver and just 3 other tourists. Arriving in Isabela, I instantly felt the…

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  • Cycling Around Santa Cruz (Galapagos)
    Blog Ecuador Galapagos Islands South America
    Cycling Around Santa Cruz (Galapagos)

    The next day in Pueto Ayora, I wanted to visit Tortuga bay and do a little self-tour of the island, so I started by hiring a bike from across the road from my accommodation. I nipped into town to Acai bar, which serves vegan coffees (oat latte) and vegan acai bowls, it was delicious, then…

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  • The famous viewpoint over Bartolome island in the Galapagos islands shows 2 half moon bays and bright blue ocean
    Blog Ecuador Galapagos Islands South America
    Day Trip to Bartolome Island (Galapagos)

    One of the most iconic images of the Galapagos islands are the double bay beaches of Bartolome island, and overlooking Santiago island. In order to get to visit these uninhabited islands you need to get a day ferry from Santa Cruz island which takes about 3 hours each way. I booked my trip from home…

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  • DIY Galapagos Backpacking
    Blog Ecuador Galapagos Islands South America
    DIY Galapagos Backpacking

    Visiting the Galpagos has always been a dream of mine, as a biologist, everyone is aware of the impact these tiny islands has on Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Plus, after binge-watching nature documentaries my whole life, the Galapagos seems like a relatively untouched nature-paradise, where animals and humans live in harmony, with as little…

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  • Blog Ecuador South America
    Beautiful Baños

    After an amazing few days in the Amazon, I still had a couple of days before my flights to the Galapagos Islands. For a long time before my trip, I wasn’t sure where to spend these… Either in a different cloud forest area, perhaps Mindo or around the Sumaco region, perhaps the Quilotoa loop, or…

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  • Blog Ecuador South America
    Experiencing the Amazon – Cuyabeno River Cruising

    I was so sad to be leaving Mashpi, and honestly, it already felt like I’d been on holiday for 2 weeks, but actually, I’d only been in Ecuador for 5 nights so far! The next adventure was going to be just as good though… after being dropped back in Quito, I checked into a cheap…

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  • Blog Ecuador South America
    Magical Mashpi – The Cloud Forests of Ecuador

    The first time I booked my trip to Ecuador was back in 2020 before the covid pandemic. At that time, I hadn’t even heard of Mashpi. I actually found out about the reserve and hotel when I was searching through BBC iplayer looking for videos on Ecuador. I had just finished watching the David Attenborough…

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  • Arriving in Quito
    Blog Ecuador South America
    Arriving in Quito

    I was so excited for my trip to Ecuador! I had booked the trip initially more than 2 years ago for April 2020, and was finally able to rebook for this year April 2022. A holiday was long overdue! However, one big benefit to having my trip cancelled and rebooking, was that I was able…

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  • Blog Central America Mexico
    Relaxing in Isla Holbox

    After Chichen Itza, we decided to spend a few days on the island Holbox, which is a long narrow island at the northen-most tip of the Yucatan penisular. I had read great things about this isolated island which has no roads and is one of the best places to snorkel with Whale Sharks in Mexico….

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  • Blog Central America Mexico
    Exploring Coba and Chichen Itza

    From Tulum we drove in land to Vallodolid where we were staying for just one night to allow us to get up early to visit Chichen Itza. On the way we stopped at Coba, another Mayan archaeological site, famous for it’s huge pyramid, Ixmoja in the Nohoch Mul complex, one of the highest Maya pyramids…

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  • Blog Central America Mexico
    Chilling in Tulum

    Pete and I had flights to Mexico booked almost the minute we landed from our 3-week adventure to Thailand, New Zealand and Bali. After a ridiculous 60+ hours in the air on this holiday, one of Pete’s stipulations about our next holiday was that he wanted just 1 flight, that’s it… Fortunately, you can get…

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  • Exploring West Bali and Day Trip to Ijen Crater
    Bali Blog Indonesia Java
    Exploring West Bali and Day Trip to Ijen Crater

    The next day when we woke at the beautiful Menjangan Dynasty Resort, the clouds had cleared and it was a glorious day. I had Whatsapped a small company called West Bali Explorer to take us on a snorkelling trip to Menjangan island. The trip was about 1/3 of the price as the resort and the…

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  • IMG_20190507_083803
    Blog Asia Bali Indonesia
    One day driving around Ubud

    After a great day on Pete’s birthday on Nusa Penida, we decided to actually spend time on Bali today 😂 I have been to Bali before, and although everyone says that Ubud is supposed to be the Balinese capital of culture and beauty, to be honest, I don’t feel this way. Ubud is commercial, busy,…

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  • IMG_20190505_083300
    Blog Asia Bali Indonesia
    Day Trip to Nusa Penida from Bali

    Stage 3 of our Big Easter Adventure! It’s Pete’s birthday on 5th May, which was in 2 days, so for his birthday, I suggested upgrading our 9-hour direct flight from Auckland to Bali to business class. We’ve flown business before with Etihad by using their bidding service, we bid £100 each for the upgrade and…

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  • IMG_20190503_164643
    Australia & Oceania Blog New Zealand
    One Day in Auckland

    Leaving Queenstown was quite sad actually, but we had certainly maximised our time there and only really had 5 days in New Zealand because of where the flights fell. I think we made the right decision to leave Queenstown after just 3 days there, because it meant we have a full day in Auckland, but…

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    Australia & Oceania Blog New Zealand
    Day Trip to Arrowtown and Wanaka

    For the last day in Queenstown, we had originally looked at driving to Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki, but after a super long day of driving to Milford Sound the previous day (read about that amazing day here) we decided to have a more chilled day. We first headed over to Arrow town, a small town…

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  • Australia & Oceania Blog New Zealand
    Road Trip to Milford Sound

    Of all the things to do on the South Island of New Zealand, visiting Milford Sound was the top thing I wanted to do. It’s really close to Queenstown as the crow flies, but to drive there takes about 4 hours. We set off really early and Rob drove us in his car. Simone even…

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  • IMG_20190430_123612
    New Zealand Australia & Oceania Blog
    Wonder in Queenstown, NZ

    Week 2 of our 3 week adventure to Thailand, New Zealand and Indonesia. Our 4 back-to-back flights later, we landed in Queenstown, New Zealand. This leg of the trip was really the main reason why we booked this flight; Pete’s best friend Rob moved to New Zealand 5 years ago and he has only seen…

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  • Asia Blog Thailand
    Motorbiking in Chiang Mai

    Stage 3 of our big Easter adventure! After driving around Northen Thailand for the past 5 days, we decided to change things up a little and hire a moped for our final 2 days in Chiang Mai. If you’ve read previous posts of my travels you’ll know that one of my absolute favourite things to…

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  • Asia Blog Thailand
    Driving the Mae Hong Son Loop

    Stage 2 of our Easter Adventure We left Chiang Mai on Tuesday morning after picking up our little jeep. We decided to drive the loop in a clockwise direction, heading first to Mae Chaem via Doi Inthanon; Thailands tallest peak. We set off and instantly discovered how uncomfortable our little jeep was, bouncing all over…

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  • Asia Blog Thailand
    Cycling around Chiang Mai

    We arrived at the airport nice and early and took our time eating some lunch and doing a bit of shopping before the first 16 hour flight to Bangkok. The flight was uneventful and we landed around midday the next day in Thailand. We’ve been here before, so we calmly made our way down to…

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  • Africa Blog Uganda
    Giraffes and Zebra in Lake Mburo National Park

    The drive to Lake Mburo National Park (LMNP) was along roads we had been before. We headed south from Kichwamba before joining the main road to Masaka. As I have commented previously, we still couldn’t get over how many people walk on the roads here. All life is centred around the main roads. The markets,…

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  • IMG_20180912_155401
    Africa Blog Uganda
    Safari self drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park

    From lake Bunyonyi we continued North towards Queen Elizabeth National Park, the most popular national park in Uganda thanks to it’s countless animals including elephants, hippos and lions. The drive there was quite long but extremely scenic, even when it rained, it was great to experience, the rain drops were huge, flickering from rain to…

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  • IMG_20180908_180434~2.jpg
    Africa Blog Uganda
    Relaxing at Lake Bunyonyi

    After a physically tough and emotionally draining day seeing the Gorillas at Bwindi National Park, we used the next 2 days at Lake Bunyonyi to chill and relax around the serene waters. But first… we had to get there… We left the guest house early and began the journey down into the valley of lake…

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  • img_20180909_113334
    Uganda Africa Blog
    Gorilla tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

    We woke at 5:30am on Sunday and dressed ready for our jungle adventure. We were tired and anxious to get to the Nkuringo gate on time for the 7:30am briefing. After an extremely quick breakfast (we took the rest with us to eat on the road) we set off for the 45-60 minute drive from…

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  • IMG_20180908_103209~2.jpg
    Uganda Africa Blog
    Arriving in Entebbe and Self-Drive to Bwindi

    After the struggles and worries of trying to organise our own self-drive tour of Uganda (read about that here) we finally made it to Entebbe ready for our adventure to start! We breezed through passport/visa control, with even enough time to pose for a good visa pic, before purchasing SIM cards for the week and…

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  • img_20180909_113334
    Uganda Africa Blog
    Planning for Uganda trip

    So I’ve just spent the last 2 weeks pulling my hair out stressing about booking our Uganda trip in September. If you just want the facts, go here. For those who follow mine and Pete’s adventures, you’ll know that we do not like to take tours or use travel agencies. Not that we have any…

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  • Asia Blog Sri Lanka
    Thunderstoms and history in Sinharaja

    From Dikwella it was a long bus or car journey back to Colombo for our flight, so we looked for somewhere in the middle to stay for a night to split up the journey and see a little more of the stunning island. Having spent a good few days on the beach we opted for…

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  • Asia Blog Sri Lanka
    Exploring Sri Lanka’s Southern Beaches

    After doing some research about Sri Lanka’s south, we decided just to take the plunge and see for ourselves… You can read blogs and articles and reviews, but at the end of the day, everyone’s opinion is different and sometimes you just can’t beat trying it out for yourself. So we jumped into a taxi…

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  • Avoiding tourists in Kandy and Ella
    Asia Blog Sri Lanka
    Avoiding tourists in Kandy and Ella

    It was calming and relaxing on the beach at Nilaveli, but after just an hour of snoozing in the sun, Pete piped up that he ‘was bored’ haha. I think this was a slight exaggeration, but it motivated me to look at the next leg of the trip and make a final decision about which…

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  • Pigeon Island
    Asia Blog Sri Lanka
    Shark spotting in Nilaveli

    After riding a train, hiring a moped, getting a tuk tuk and a taxi, we decided the time for a bus was here and boarded a bus to Trincomalee from Polonnaruwa. The buses here are, in a single word, crazy. They are usually by far the fastest things on the road, constantly beeping, overtaking everything…

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  • Hiring a bicycle in Polonnaruwa
    Asia Blog Sri Lanka
    Hiring a bicycle in Polonnaruwa

    From Sigiriya we took a tuk tuk across to Polonnaruwa, one of Sri Lanka’s ancient capitals. It was first declared the capital in 1070 by King Vijayabahu. There are many ancient buildings and temples there that were built between 1500 and 800 years ago, most notably, the ones by King Parakramabahu who placed irrigation systems throughout the region…

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  • Steps in Sigiriya
    Blog Asia Sri Lanka
    Steps in Sigiriya

    The train to Sigiriya was long and bumpy, but interesting and fun. We rushed to get there and to get a ticket in time, so didn’t have a chance for breakfast, that meant our only option was to sample the on-board snacks. Sellers would get on at one stop and off at the next, walking…

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  • Business class planes to third class trains…
    Asia Blog Sri Lanka
    Business class planes to third class trains…

    Since my time travelling South East Asia previously, I had the dream to visit Sri Lanka. The Pearl in the Indian Ocean, with lush jungles, stunning beaches, a variety of wildlife and especially delicious food, it seems like a Paradise island! I semi-planned a trip here last year but I waited too long to book…

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  • large_20170426_093147.jpg
    Asia Blog Thailand
    New in Nakhon Si Thammarat

    After a boat and taxi to Krabi bus depot, we boarded a local bus to Nakhon Si Thammarat City which took about 2 hours. I booked somewhere again on the way, but as soon as we arrived a huge thunderstorm began and we waited at the bus terminal for a while for things to calm…

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  • large_20170422_105325.jpg
    Asia Blog Thailand
    New Roads in Railay

    From Koh Phangan, we decided to head to somewhere new for both Pete and I, since last time I travelled through Thailand I essentially ‘got stuck’ on Koh Phangan and couldn’t bring myself to leave. I never visited anywhere further South, places said to be amongst the most beautiful in Thailand. So we got the…

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  • large_20170420_111140.jpg
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Motorbiking on Koh Phangan

    After a noisy and bumpy overnight train to Surat Thani, we woke with the sun about 30 minutes from our destination. Tired Pete after only a few hours sleep Surat Thani is the city closest to Don Sak pier where you can get the regular boats and catamarans to and from the island Koh Samui…

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  • large_90_20170417_120418.jpg
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Playing in Kanchanaburi

    We woke up at 7am the next day to pack up and get the first train out to Kanchanaburi. However, the train station we needed was across town. Anyone who knows me, knows I’m not the best at being on time and about 5 minutes into our taxi ride to the station I declared to…

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  • large_20170414_144306.jpg
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Songkran in Bangkok

    The flight to Bangkok was fairly uneventful; my Grandad dropped us at the airport and we had a slight delay before boarding our 7.5-hour flight to Abu Dhabi. Pete was very impressed though as I prebooked him a vegan meal for the flight  and we also found a vegan coffee (almond milk) shop at the airport….

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  • The Journey Home and Fly-Eye
    Africa Blog Morocco
    The Journey Home and Fly-Eye

    We decided to begin the journey back to Marrakech on Friday so we could relax more on Saturday and not have to worry about getting to the airport. The drive wasn’t that far, but the roads on the way had been unpredictable so we were playing it safe. We decided to leave straight after the…

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  • Adventures in the Desert
    Africa Blog Morocco
    Adventures in the Desert

    From Zagora it was a long drive to the desert. M’hamid is often called ‘the gateway to the desert’, where people go to experience sand dunes and stars. The road was surprisingly good for most of the way, with only part of the way being a single-track road. Once again, the views were incredible. The…

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  • Continuing along the Draa
    Africa Blog Morocco
    Continuing along the Draa

    From Skoura, we headed back towards Ouarzazate and then South along the N9 again following the Draa river valley. This part of the journey really was my favourite I think, the landscape seemed to change around every corner (and there were a lot of corners!). The road took us through the major town of Agdz…

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  • Detour along the Dades
    Africa Blog Morocco
    Detour along the Dades

    In hindsight, Pete and I wished that we had skipped our detour along the Dades to Skoura and gone straight to the desert at M’Hamid, but that’s part of the adventure and I had read that the Dades Gorge and River was home to some of the most spectacular oases and sights. So we set…

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  • Atlas Mountains Morocco
    Blog Africa Morocco
    Conquering the Atlas Mountains

    Well… at least we tried to leave Marrakech… we had downloaded satnavs for our phones, but even they found navigating through the Medina difficult as they didn’t seem to understand the concept of one-way streets. We seem trapped inside the walls of the city and so just drove as close to the wall as possible…

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  • Arriving in Marrakech
    Africa Blog Morocco
    Arriving in Marrakech

    We arrived in Marrakech on Saturday evening and took a short walk to the arrivals lounge and passport control. We were excited and eager to see the new country and hoped we could get through quickly to make the most of our short holiday. Unfortunately, Marrakech did not co-operate and we joined the back of…

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  • Africa Blog Morocco
    Morocco Trip Planning and Preparation

    It took us a long time to decide where to go this holiday. I think the fact that we had only 1 week really impacted the decision. When I asked Pete what he wanted he said “sun” and “something different”, for me these 2 things would direct me to South East Asia or South America,…

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  • Boating in Hvar
    Blog Croatia Europe
    Boating in Hvar

    Hvar, along with the Plitvic Lakes, was the other crucial place I wanted to visit, mainly because of what I had read about the Pakleni islands and the natural beauty of the ocean here…. It did not disappoint and Pete and I had our best days in Croatia here. We arrived on the ferry into…

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  • Cycling in Split
    Blog Croatia Europe
    Cycling in Split

    The drive from Plitvice to Split took us down some insanely beautiful roads, as well as roads surrounded by interest and mystery. To avoid any toll roads, we took the D1 again, this time the full length into Split. At some points, we ventured through obviously military towns, which had nobody in them… (aka full…

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  • Peace in Plitvice Lakes
    Blog Croatia Europe
    Peace in Plitvice Lakes

    On our second full day in Croatia, we started early with breakfast on the balcony again before setting off to the famous Plitvice Lakes. This was the real reason why I had always wanted to come to Croatia, the pictures of this place are spectacular… After a bit of research we found that most of…

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  • Arriving in Zadar
    Blog Croatia Europe
    Arriving in Zadar

    We arrived in Zadar by a super cheap RyanAir flight (£60 return!). We were met in arrivals by a representative from AutoEurope who we had booked the car through. We got the car hire for a week for £40 and I paid about £10 for a separate carhireexcess.com insurance cover to avoid taking out the…

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  • e841656d-f647-4db7-99cd-165ac46d2146
    Blog Asia Bali Indonesia
    Bali Road Trip; Amed, Lovina, Munduk, Kuta, Uluwatu.

    After some amazing beaches in Lombok, we returned to Bali on the slow boat from Lembar. We headed back to Kuta and checked into Ananta guest house, a lovely little apartment along one of the backstreets. Last time we were in Kuta, when we first arrived in Bali, I lost my purse on a night…

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    Blog Asia Indonesia Lombok
    Beaches in Kuta, Lombok

    When we arrived in Kuta on the South coast of Lombok we checked into Yellow Flower Inn initially. It was nice here, but for your money you could get a hell of a lot, so on the second day we changed our accommodation a place we saw just down the road which had a pool…

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  • SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
    Blog Asia Indonesia Lombok
    Resting in Senggigi

    From Rinjani, we really wanted to visit the South of Lombok and the Kuta (yes same name as in Bali) beaches. But it was quite far to travel in one go, so we stopped briefly in Senggigi on the West coast, just North of Mataram, the capital. My knee was still extremely sore, so we…

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  • Snapping my ACL climbing Mount Rinjani
    Asia Blog Indonesia Lombok
    Snapping my ACL climbing Mount Rinjani

    From Gili T we took a fast boat to Bangsal on Lombok’s main island. We wanted to climb the volcano of Mountain Rinjani as the view from the top is said to be stunning, as well as viewing inside the volcano where there appears to be ‘a volcano in a volcano’ surrounded by a sulphurous…

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    Blog Asia Indonesia Lombok
    Turtles in Gili Trawangan

    The fast boat arrived from Padang Bai in to Gili Trawangan (Gili T), one of 3 small flat islands off the coast of Lombok, fairly late in the day. It was funny watching lots of holidaymakers arrive alongside us struggle with their massive suitcases that were not very practical for island living! There was no…

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  • Blog Asia Bali Indonesia
    Learning to Love Bali in Padang Bai

    After not really feeling like we saw the ‘real’ Bali so far, we headed out on a bus East to Padang Bai. Here is supposed to be more chilled with lots of Balinese temples in the foothills of Gunung Agung. After a slow, albeit short, journey on the bus, we checked in to a room…

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  • SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
    Asia Bali Blog Indonesia
    “Culture” in Ubud

    We took a minibus from Kuta to Ubud and arrived quite late. We checked into a place that had been recommended to me by several people, Happy Mango, but we found it to have little of the atmosphere and friendliness that I’d been promised, so the following day we moved across the village to Sania’s…

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  • SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
    Asia Bali Blog Indonesia
    Spontaneous Trip to Bali…

    After almost a month solo travelling in Malaysia, and this time it was really solo – The whole time travelling up til then I met people who tagged along with me in a little group. We travelled together and hung out. Sometimes only for 1 or 2 days, but still. It means that often, when…

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  • Partying in the Perhentians
    Asia Blog Malaysia
    Partying in the Perhentians

    I slept so well that night in the little hut on stilts that I woke up late, but still decided to get a bus over to Kuala Besut to grab a boat to the Perhentians. Awi offered to take me to the bus station in KT and on the way took me via his house…

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  • Kayaking in Kuala Terengganu
    Asia Blog Malaysia
    Kayaking in Kuala Terengganu

    My plan after Kuantan (mainly because of the weather) was to get a bus all the way to Kuala Besut to grab a boat to the Perhentian Islands. Unfortunately, I missed the bus in the morning that would allow me to do that. As an alternative, I decided to simply get a bit closer to…

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  • Raining in Kuantan
    Asia Blog Malaysia
    Raining in Kuantan

    I arrived in Kuantan late at night and the weather was already starting to get bad. I checked into Kuantan Backpackers where, once again on my trip, I had the dorm to myself! In the morning, the rain cleared a little so I headed to the town. But the rain had made it super humid,…

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  • Side Track to Singapore
    Asia Blog Malaysia Singapore
    Side Track to Singapore

    From Melaka I took a small detour out of Malaysia and into Singapore. I was quite excited about visiting Singapore City, especially to see all the amazing buildings like the Marina Bay Sands building and the iconic skyline. I got up early to catch the bus which drives you through the border where you get…

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  • Making friends in Melaka
    Asia Blog Malaysia
    Making friends in Melaka

    The previous night out lead once again to a late morning, but I eventually made it to the impressive bus station in KL to catch a bus South to Melaka. On the bus I got chatting to a Chinese/Malaysian girl named Viny. She studied in KL and was on the way home to see her…

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  • Asia Blog Malaysia
    Party time in KL

    I flew back to KL from Kuching and checked into Sunshine Bedz, which was a cheap backpacker hostel very close to the centre. By this point in the trip my preconceptions of backpacker accommodation was beginning to fade. It’s true that there were a lot of young travellers who come away to booze and party……

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  • On the nature trail in Kuching (Borneo)
    Asia Blog Malaysia
    On the nature trail in Kuching (Borneo)

    From the Cameron Highlands I headed down to Kuala Lumpur to catch a flight the next day to the Malaysian city of Kuching in Sarawak on the island of Borneo. I bough my ticket here on a bit of a whim after checking the AirAsia website – the flight was about £20 return! In KL…

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  • Feeling the cold in Cameron Highlands
    Asia Blog Malaysia
    Feeling the cold in Cameron Highlands

    From Ipoh, John and I headed from the local bus station out towards the Cameron Highlands. The road there wound through the mountains and jungle and was one of the most incredible roads yet. The higher we climbed into the interior of peninsular Malaysia, the worse the weather got… foggy and misty looking out over…

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  • Living like a local in Ipoh
    Asia Blog Malaysia
    Living like a local in Ipoh

    From Georgetown I decided to take a bus to the city of Ipoh, not a place in Malaysia that is well-renowned for tourism, but it was only a short journey away and the bus was cheap! The bus dropped me at a bus-station that was quite a way out of town, but I didn’t feel…

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  • First taste of Malaysia
    Asia Blog Malaysia
    First taste of Malaysia

    I left Koh Phangan not because I wanted to (I could have stayed forever….), but because I had to… My thai visa had expired. I caught a very early morning boat/bus combo to take me all the way to Georgetown on the island of Penang in Malaysia. Only after paying a fine for overstaying my…

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  • ‘Living’ on Koh Phangan
    Asia Blog Thailand
    ‘Living’ on Koh Phangan

    I left Chumphon early with the intention of catching a train to Surat Thani and a boat to the Islands North of there, Koh Phangan. However, I missed the train and so caught a minibus instead! I arrived in Surat Thani and waited for an hour to catch the last boat to the Island. Watching…

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  • Bike riding in Chumphon
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Bike riding in Chumphon

    I left Prachuap on a local train, the journey was 3 hours and cost roughly 80p. I was sat next to a couple of elderly women, with bright red teeth stained with betel nut. They each had a handbag with a plastic bag liner and were spitting their red as saliva into it every few…

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  • Perfection in Prachuap
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Perfection in Prachuap

    I left Phetchaburi for Prachuap via minibus and had the intention of blogging on my journey, however I quickly realised that I had left my notebooks back at Mayom hostel. I messaged Roong on Facebook and amazingly she was able to ‘post’ them to me on the next minibus leaving Phetchaburi. After arriving I checked…

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  • Wildlife spotting in Phetchaburi
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Wildlife spotting in Phetchaburi

    Steve and I left Bangkok on a minibus to Phetburi where we checked into Mayom hostel. The owner there, Roong, was a lovely person. The hostel was new and really pretty, we were almost the first people to stay here! We rented a scooter and drove to the national monument on top of a hill…

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    Thailand Asia Blog
    Bangkok with Ben

    Steve and I flew back to Bangkok. And with Steve staying only a few days before going to Indonesia, Paul going to Chiang Mai before home and Steffi staying in Yangon for his Chinese visa, it was to be the end of the gang… I planned to be in Bangkok on these dates to coincide…

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    Myanmar Asia Blog
    City living in Yangon

    Yangon used to be the capital of Myanmar until a few years ago when the government, paranoid about naval invasion, decided to build a new city from scratch in the centre of the country. We never went to Nay Pi Taw, and I had heard from other travellers we were right not to as it’s…

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    Myanmar Asia Blog
    Ancient temples in Bagan

    From the over night bus, we arrived in Bagan very early and straight off the bus we were surrounded by taxi drivers wishing to take us to the town. After some tough negotiation, which started a fight between some of the drivers… We finally got to town. We checked into winner guest house was slept…

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  • Fisherman on Inle Lake uses his foot with the padel to propel himself
    Myanmar Asia Blog
    Wet season on Inle Lake; Nguanshwe

    We took an overnight bus from Hsipaw to Nguanshwe. A little different from most other overnight buses, the buses in Myanmar were not sleeper buses, so getting to sleep sitting upright is not ideal. Luckily for me I can usually sleep anywhere, so it wasn’t so bad… the guys took sleeping pills to cope, which…

    Read More Wet season on Inle Lake; NguanshweContinue

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    Myanmar Asia Blog
    Trekking in Hsipaw

    From Mandalay we took the tourist bus to Hsipaw, a village in the north with great access to the minority mountain people of Myanmar such as Shan, Karen and Palaung people. We arrived late in the evening and booked a trekking tour through the hostel to a Palaung village. The trek started at 6am the…

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    Asia Blog Myanmar
    Making friends in Mandalay, Myanmar

    The gang, reduced now to just the boys and I, flew with AirAsia from Bangkok to Mandalay in the morning and walked from the bus transfer point to garden guesthouse. It was already afternoon so we ate at a local Chinese restaurant and showered before heading out to watch the sunset at Mandalay Hill; a…

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    Asia Blog Thailand
    Feeling at home in Bangkok

    We arrived in Bangkok from Siem Reap. Everyone in the group had been to Bangkok before, but stayed in a different district, AND… they all hated the city. So my mission, as the designated tour guide, was to change all their opinions!! I took them to all my favourite restaurants and bars from previous visits,…

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  • a group of friends outside angkor wat temple
    Blog Asia Cambodia
    Say Wat?!? Angkor Wat.

    We arrived in Siem Reap very early and had to wait until midday to check in. The night bus wasn’t great so all of us slept on sofas in the lobby until we were allowed in the room. Another lovely hostel, this place also had a swimming pool, but was a little further from the…

    Read More Say Wat?!? Angkor Wat.Continue

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    Cambodia Asia Blog
    Extremes in Phnom Penh

    The newly formed travel group of myself, Steve and Paul from Bristol, George from Gloucester, Steffi from Germany and Karen from The Netherlands, headed off together in what turned into a private minibus from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh. It quickly became apparent that from now on I was tour guide and organiser for all trips,…

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    Asia Blog Cambodia
    First taste of beach-bum life; Koh Rong

    We left Kampot for Sihanoukville mid morning and immediately caught a boat to the small island Koh Rong. We checked into our beach accommodation, which was $10 a night for a private room with a double bed! We all got a room each at that price! The view from the guest house The first night…

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    Blog Asia Cambodia
    Easy river living in Kampot

    Crossing the border into Cambodia was both relaxed and stressful at the same time. A Cambodian visa technically costs $20 at the border, but it is almost impossible to pay less than $26 due to corruption. However, the forms were easy to finish and all-in-all our border crossing took about 5-10 minutes! Incredibly fast compared…

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    Asia Blog Vietnam
    Public transport in the Mekong Delta

    As the last major city in the south of Vietnam, from HCMC the next step for most people is Cambodia. However, I had heard great things about the very southern part of Vietnam in the Mekong Delta. I managed to convince myself, and George, that the best way into Cambodia was through the delta… and…

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    Asia Blog Vietnam
    Hanging out in Ho Chi Minh City

    I left Dalat for Ho Chi Minh city absolutely broken! My body was aching all over and I was still tied from the canyoning even after having a big sleep. On the bus to the HCMC I met 3 girls, 2 travelling together from the Netherlands and 1 from the UK. When we arrived we…

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    Asia Blog Vietnam
    Adventuring in Dalat

    From Hoi An, I took an overnight bus to Dalat, which stopped briefly at Nha Trang in the morning; a beach resort which I had heard to steer clear from… a quick peak at the beach confirmed this, as it was this busy at only 7am! Upon arriving in Dalat I walked with a friend…

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    Asia Blog Vietnam
    Eating in Hué and Hoi An

    After my interesting train journey with the locals, I arrived late in Hué and went straight for food at a famous pho Hué stall. Pho is traditional Vietnamese noodle soup, which is supposed to be the best in Hué, and it was the best soup I had so far! The following day I booked a…

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    Asia Blog Vietnam
    Caving in Phong Nha

    The evening after Ninh Binh I caught an overnight bus to Dong Hoi, where I was met by a taxi pick up I had arranged through Easy Tiger hostel in Phong Nha national park. Phong Nha is home to the largest cave in the world, but the entrance to that cave is only for scientists…

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    Asia Blog Vietnam
    Ninh Binh lakes and boats

    I arrived back from Sapa very early in the morning and had to walk across town back to my hostel where I had left my main bag. Walking with my small bag was so easy that I once again wished that my main bag was small. Although, I do enjoy having the luxury of my…

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    Vietnam Asia Blog
    Sapa homestay and scenery

    I finally broke the Sean-Libby team by leaving for Sapa. I had a great time travelling with someone for such a long time, especially someone that I could, and would, be close friends to back home. It makes conversations more interesting than “where have you been?” And “where are you going?”. And it’s nice to…

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    Vietnam Asia Blog
    Cat Ba island and Lan Ha bay

    On our second attempt, we caught the bus safely to Hai Phong, where we changed to a boat out into Ha Long Bay. When we arrived at Cat Ba island we boarded another bus to take us across the island to the town. The views were incredible, especially since we took the road through the…

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  • large_SAM_1246.jpg
    Asia Blog Vietnam
    Good morning… Hanoi!

    The 26 hour journey from Vientiane to Hanoi was surprisingly fine! We were on a very local bus, with only myself, Sean and a Canadian couple; the rest Vietnamese. But everyone was very friendly and considerate, especially during one of the toilet stops where the only place for a lady to go was behind the…

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    Blog Asia Laos
    Being lazy in Vientiane

    Sean and I left for Vientiane by a lovely comfortable bus! A luxury in Laos! We planned to arrive in Vientiane on Thursday afternoon and go straight to the Vietnam embassy to apply for next day visas. However, unknown to us, the embassy was closed for holidays Thursday-Sunday so we spent more time than we…

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    Blog Asia Laos
    Fun in Vang Vieng

    From Luang Prabang, myself, Sean, Janine, Heather and Lody who we met in the hostel, took a minibus down to Vang Vieng… a very winding route through the mountains and valleys. The journey was tough for me since my seat wasn’t properly secured to the ground and I left the floor every time we turned…

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    Blog Asia Laos
    The journey to Luang Prabang

    Sean and I got up early on Tuesday morning to catch a mini bus to Chiang Khong; possibly the scariest road journey so far, as our driver carelessly selected songs to play over the speakers on YouTube as he raced dangerously in the middle of the road! In Chiang Khong we crossed the border into…

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    Asia Blog Thailand
    Hitch hiking in Tha Ton

    The bus from Chiang Dao to Tha Ton was… interesting! The bus was a local one full of Thais, and of brown paper wrapped parcels. The bus was the size of a standard coach, and was definitely going too fast for the winding roads! We would stop every now and again (or at least slow…

    Read More Hitch hiking in Tha TonContinue

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    Thailand Asia Blog
    The only farang in Chiang Dao

    After an amazing time in Chiang mai, I decided to begin my journey into Laos and China. On my last day in Chiang mai I visited the Chinese embassy with a visa application form I had completed at home. I found the embassy easily and got my ticket for a queue position. Are an hour…

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    Thailand Asia Blog
    Songkran and Chiang Mai

    From Sukhothai I caught a direct bus to chiang mai. Although this wasn’t quite as VIP at my one from bangkok, it was still a double decker coach with comfortable seats. On the way there I began to experience what songkran is; the world’s biggest water fight to celebrate the Thai (and Lao) New year….

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    Asia Blog Thailand
    Thailand’s Golden Age History

    After returning to Bangkok briefly from Kanchanaburi, Dan and I then headed out to Ayutthaya; one of Thailand’s ancient cities. We stayed at a place I booked from home, Baan Are Gong guesthouse. A house made purely from teak wood, styled like a boat we think, with cabin style rooms, it was beautiful. Ayutthaya is…

    Read More Thailand’s Golden Age HistoryContinue

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    Asia Blog Thailand
    Kanchanaburi and Erawan Falls

    After waking at 6am, we got a taxi across town to Bangkok Thonburi train station. There was a huge food market here as well as a few food vendors and after a noodle soup breakfast we boarded a train to Kanchanaburi. Once there a minivan and bus took us to Erawan national park, where we…

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  • large_SAM_0253.jpg
    Asia Blog Thailand
    Exploring Bangkok

    On Saturday Ben and I decided to visit the weekend market at Chatuchak park, about an hour’s bus away. The market was so vast, with most parts inside purpose built buildings. There were a range of shops mostly selling really cool clothes, homeware, accessories as well as food outlets and souvenir type shops. It was…

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  • large_SAM_0172.jpg
    Asia Blog Thailand
    What Wat?!

    So after a dreadful nights’ sleep due to jet lag I decided to move to my next hostel – Hi Mid Bangkok – via taxi. I hailed one from outside link corner and it took me right there, only it dropped me off on the wrong side of a very busy road! Instead of running…

    Read More What Wat?!Continue

  • large_SAM_0147.jpg
    Asia Blog Thailand
    So this is it… I’m finally here!

    So apparently you need proof of onward travel to enter bangkok… seems obvious, but as I spent the last 3 months planning whether or not to buy a microfibre towel, I neglected to fully research this problem. I was under the impression that all you need to get a travellers visa for Thailand was 6…

    Read More So this is it… I’m finally here!Continue

  • SAM_0111.jpg
    Packing and Gear Asia Blog
    What to pack for an 8 month round-the-world trip: Planning and preparation.

    So today I have learnt that there is definitely not enough time for everything; to visit everywhere – maybe, but not to experience everywhere. Planning where I will go, an how long I will stay somewhere is a precious balance. I would like to visit many places and see different landscapes and environments, but I…

    Read More What to pack for an 8 month round-the-world trip: Planning and preparation.Continue

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