Northern Thailand – Chiang Mai

04/04/13 – 07/04/13

Thailand bound

From Vientiane we travelled across the border on a bus to Thailand's Udon Thani. The crossing was surprisingly easy. We hopped off the bus at the Laos side to receive our departure stamps. We then drove for a few minutes across The Friendship Bridge until we had reached Thailand's entry point.

After a quick scan of our bags we were given our 15 day free visa. Very efficient.

Udon Thani

We weren't sure what to expect from this town, but it was big, busy and very westernised. We had a lovely Thai lunch in a small local cafe before taking a wander around the extremely glamourous shopping centre. This proved quite difficult with our massive backpacks so we took an early Tuk Tuk ride to the airport.

Here we wasted the next couple of hours chilling out in the domestic lounge. At 8pm we boarded a tiny plane, run by the well known Nok Airlines, to the northern region of Chiang Mai.

The flight took only an hour and this time we were given a free bag of nuts. Lovely stuff.

We were dropped off at The Mojito House, the final hostel of our trip. This place was gross. Our room had no windows, dirty sheets, a filthy bathroom with a toilet that did not operate and no air con. Paul was cross that his side of the bed was touching the wall – which had a big stain on it.

Paul also didn't need to be a detective to work out why we were staying here. They sold Mojito cocktails for 60 Baht.

The location at least was good though, right in the heart of Sompet food market.

Chiang Mai

The following day, after an incrediblly huge breakfast of fresh fruit, museli and yoghurt, we headed out to explore. Chiang Mai is Thailand's fifth largest city and is located among the rolling foothills of the Himalayan mountains.

Unlike most other Asian towns we had recently visited, there were zebra crossings here where the mopeds would – sometimes – stop to let you cross!

We took a casual wander around a nearby day market before jumping onto the back of a Songathew heading to Tiger Kingdom. Here you can pay to interact with tigers. Despite shouting about the fact that they don't drug the animals, we questioned why they were all so tame and sleepy. It was a bit of an unsettling place despite being repeatedly assured that the tigers were treated well.

Paul chose to visit the smallest of the tigers on site and got up close and personal.

Katie watched from the safety of the cafe.

Cooking Lesson

The next day we booked a Thai cooking lesson with Galangal Cooking Studio. We were picked up by Aoy, the lovely owner, at around 3:30pm. She had started her school only six months ago and already had a great reputation amongst travellers. Her bubbly personality and excellent knowledge of Thai food made for a fantasic afternoon. There were only six of us in the class which was great too.

Local ingredients

First we selected the dishes that we wanted to make. There were five in total, ranging from appetisers to curries and salads. The six of us then grabbed a quaint wooden basket and headed to the local market to buy our produce. Aoy pointed out all of the required vegetables and sauces.

We also sampled a frozen sprite and coke lolly for 5 Baht (10p) – something we'd never seen before!

We bought some sticky rice and palm sugar from the market too. Katie was eager to try and make her favourite Thai dessert of mango sticky rice back home. We would worry about transporting this later!

Ready, Steady, Cook!

Back at Aoy's studio we sat down and started to make the first dish of the day: chicken cashew nut stir fry for Katie, and – predictably – Pad Thai for Paul.

We had funky individual chopping boards and all of our ingredients were neatly laid out ready for us. In between the courses we even enjoyed a Chang or two.

Fantastic food

We cooked, ate and chatted until nearly 9pm. It was a really fun afternoon! By course number five though it is fair to say we were pretty full up…

Between the two of us, we made the following dishes:

• Chicken spring rolls
• Papaya salad
• Penang curry
• Thai green curry
• Cocunut milk Chicken soup
• Hot and Sour Chicken soup

We also got to sample what the others made!

Wandering Wallet

After class Aoy kindly dropped the six of us at the Night Bazzar located on Chang Klan Road. As we got to a cash point to get out some money we discovered that Paul's wallet was missing. The next ten minutes was a bit of a panic to say the least. We couldn't believe that we had lost something so important so close to the end of our trip.

To cut a long story short, we managed to call Aoy from a hotel around the corner. We had left the wallet in the back of her car. Paul had been eagerly trying to film her description of how to cook sticky rice, and had absent mindely placed his wallet on the seat rather than in the bag.

We gave Aoy a massive tip to say thank you!

Night Bazzar

As soon as we had the wallet back we felt that we were quids up so we headed out to do some shopping in the market. This place was huge and we ended up buying rather a lot. From elephant chopsticks to paper lanterns, and from Monster Beat earphones to Calvin Klein boxers – we had quite a few bags!

Elephant Nature Park

The following morning we were picked up at 8am by Nan, our Thai guide for the day at Elephant Nature Park.

This is an elephant rescue and rehabilitation centre set up by an inspirational Thai lady called Lek, which means 'small' in Thai. She has been involved in dozens of rescues and has subsequently created a thriving elephant herd.

Elephants everywhere

The sanctuary was massive. There were over thirty elephants roaming freely about, including three babies. We walked among these giant creatures, feeding them fresh fruit and watching as they interacted with one another.

Apparently they spend 75% of the time chewing and manage to consume over 200kg of food in one day! We fed them watermelons, bananas, pineapples and pumpkins to name but a few fruit and veg. A diet fit for Katie…

Bath time

After a huge buffet lunch we walked down to the Illinois River and helped wash the elephants. We got rather wet.

The day ended with an educational video. We learnt about the plight of the Asian elephant and how poorly they are treated in Thailand. It was for this reason that we chose to visit a sanctuary rather than do the standard tourist thing and ride them in a commercial setting where you don't know how the animals are treated. The video made for disturbing watching.

All in all it was a fantastic and extremely interesting day.

Goodbye Chiang Mai

The following day was officially the last day of our travels. In the evening we boarded a sleeper bus heading to Bangkok. We arrived disorientated and tired at the grand old time of 6am.

Walking through the backpacker district of Khao San Road at this time of day was not a pretty picture. We felt part of the night before, and walked past the drunk locals and tourists as they meandered about, some still with drinks in their hands.

We found a small cafe called 'Club Culture' and ordered some breakfast. Our flight to Singapore was not until 8pm, so we had a few hours to kill. We ended up walking for two hours to the metro station with all of our bags. It was certainly a long, sleepy day and we were relieved to finally arrive back at Paul's cousins apartment later that night.

The End

And so ends our incredible six month adventure! Now we are excitedly beginning our next one in Sydney. We fly back to Oz in a couple of days…

Random Travel Facts

• 161 days
• 2 passports
• 12 flights
• 10 currencies
• 9 countries
• 23 Tuk Tuks
• 28 buses
• 51 hostels and guesthouses
• 7 taxis
• 1 campervan
• 0 hospitals
• 11 tropical islands
• 3,032 photographs
• 86 mosquito bites
• 4 cheap watches
• 1 steak

 

Laos – Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng & Vientiane

30/03/12 – 03/04/13

Hello Laos

Out flight to Luang Prabang was short but sweet. We'd actually spent a couple of days debating whether to fly from Hanoi or take the 36 hour sleeper bus – aka 'the death bus.' But after reading such horrendous stories about the windy mountainous terrain and the questionable driving skills we decided to pay the extra $100 and go by plane.

It took just one hour and came with a free chicken roll.

Luang Prabang

We arrived fresh faced at 8pm. The airport was tiny and it looked like our small plane was the only active jet that evening.

The visa on arrival cost $35, plus the standard $1 'service charge'. As we didn't have enough dollars on us the guy behind the counter asked for 700,000 kip (Laos' local currency) instead, this was an extra $20!

Luckily an Australian couple in the queue kindly lent us the additional dollars we required. We repaid them in Kip and ended up sharing a taxi with them back to our guesthouse, The Liberty. This place was lovely, clean and quaint. We soon picked up on the traditional greeting gesture – the nop or wâi. This is a prayer like placing together of the palms in front of the face or chest.

After dropping off our bags we headed into town to check out the Hmong Night Market.

Magical market

This was by far the nicest market we have been to in SE Asia. Walking throught the narrow undercover streets was a magical experience. The seemingly endless candlelit ribbon of colourful woven textiles, paper lanterns, beautiful wooden crafts and local paintings was a feast for the eyes!

What's more, the vendors were low-pressure and allowed us to look at their stalls without bombarding us with prices. We were also told that the money you pay goes straight in their pockets.

Walking past the food stands we were immediately aware of the french influence again. Row upon row of fresh baked goods lined the tables. There was also an abundance of fresh fruit, Katie selected her standard mango smoothie, and Paul a chicken baguette. The lady who served us was called 'Mama' and she was a lovely, smiling bundle of joy!

Stunning Scenery

The next morning we were up early eager to explore. We immediately liked the Mekong-bordered Luang Prabang. This peaceful town felt a million miles away from the noise and hecticness of Hanoi.

The crumbling French villas, stunning temples and relaxed atmosphere gave the town a genuinely timeless feel. There also seemed to be a level of kindness here unpractised to such a national degree in other neighbouring countries.

After a lovely breakfast we went to hire a moped for the day. The daily rates were quite expensive in comparison to Vietnam and Thailand, but we opted for the slightly pricier automatic bike instead of the manual nonetheless. The downside was that the bike was bright pink and covered in girly stickers.

As we pulled into a petrol station ten minutes later, a guy pointed and laughed at Paul saying 'lady bike'.

Bemusing butterflies

Back on the road we headed north towards Kuang Si Falls. This was about 50 minutes away and it was an incredible drive past mountains, rice paddys and lushous farming land.

Thousands of white butterflies joined us on our journey too. These were very pretty but also rather annoying as they would continually hit us in the face as we scooted along. We had to stop on a couple of occasion to allow animals to cross the road too.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Black bears

The entrance fee to the waterfall was 20,000 kip. This included a walk through a bear rescue centre called To Tat. These guys save bears from the illegal wildlife trade. We arrived at feeding time and we watched as the staff hid food around their enclosure, before releasing the bears.

Kuang Si Falls

The falls themselves were beautiful. The water was crystal blue and reflected the sunlight. We spent quite a while exploring the many pools and cascades.

The water was rather nippy though. Katie, for the sake a photo, meant only to go up to her knees. The muddy waterbed was incredibly slippery though and she quickly became submerged. It was quite an effort to manourve your way around in the water!

Paul particulary liked the rope swing and jumping down from one of the smaller falls. The only downside of this place was the number of tourists.

Paul is upside down, mid-air on the right

Temples and Oreos

On the way back through town we stopped to take a few photos of the scenery. We also made a stop at Wat Xieng Maen – a temple located in the old quarter. The ceiling is painted with gold naga (mythical dragons) and the elaborate candle rail has the dragons at either end.

We also stopped to buy a peanut chocolate brownie (Katie) and an Oreo and banana shake (Katie again).

In the evening we headed straight back to the night market to purchase some souvineers. We bought a few essentials, such as an embroidered make up bag, two Laos shot glasses and a painting of two monks.

Minibus mayhem

The 7.5 hour mini bus journey to Vang Vieng the following morning was an experience to say the least. We were sat at the front next to the driver, with no head rests and limited leg room.

For the first five hours of the journey we drove up through the mountains along a narrow, potholed, windy road. There were tight bends and hundreds of blind corners, but this didn't stop our driver overtaking every vehicle that got in our way. It was like being sat on the front seat of the world's longest rollercoaster.

The views were breathtaking though. You could see for miles around and there were hardly any man made structures except the odd small village. Laos seems to be a backdrop of mountains, thatched houses, colourful ethnic tribes and unbroken forests.

Vang Vieng

At 3pm, we arrived into riverside village Vang Vieng. There was a rich selection of caving, trekking and mountain biking here. We stayed at the Laos Haven Hotel which had stunning mountain views.

View from our window

Tainted Tubes

The main attraction here – up until recently – was tubing. Basically tourists would hire a rubber ring tube and float down the Nam Song river stopping at numerous bars on route.

At least one person a year used to lose their life because of too many beers and 'happy shakes' though. It was for this reason that the majority of the bars along the river were forced to close at the beginning of 2013.

Unfortunately Paul had developed a bad case of flu so was bed bound for most of our stay here. Katie did a bit of exploring though, and couldn't believe how quiet this town was. The once busy river was isolated and very peaceful.

Vientiane

From Vang Vieng we headed to Laos' capital, Vientiane. The three hour 'VIP' bus ride was absolutely horrific. We both felt incredibly travel sick and had to hang on for dear life.

Aside the rough journey, we have little to say about this city. Much more modern than the rest of the country, but still relatively quiet and subdued.

Our conclusion of Laos: a sleepy country of gilded temples, beautiful mountains and tangerine-robed monks. Oh, and good smoothie shakes too.

 

Vietnam – Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa

23/03/13 – 29/03/13

Hello Hanoi

Our first day in Hanoi was spent sleepily wandering through The Old Quarter sector of the city. Everything spills out onto the pavements here which double as workshops for merchandise carvers, furniture makers and every other trade you can think of.

Again there are no pavements and mopeds zip down the narrow side streets beeping constantly. This is not a great place to feel half awake!

Dappa Chap(pa)

We decided to skip trying Pho Bo – Hanoi's traditional beef-and-noodle breakfast soup! Instead we grabbed a slightly safer baguette before heading to Düc Classic Tailors so Paul could get fitted out for a suit. He selected the style (thanks to a photo of Zac Efron), the material and the size of the pockets, lapel and collar. He chose the material for two tailor made shirts too.

By this point we were really beginning to feel tired, so after a few iced coffees in a local cafe we headed back to our hotel, The New Vision. On the way we were approached by many mobile saleswomen who had clearly overstocked their wobbly bicycles.

Our hotel was really nice, we had a full on shower cubicle in our bathroom with semi-clean towels. We'd found the room half price on Agoda.com and paid only $15 a night. The staff carried our bags to our room for us and gave us free bottles of water, which we sneakily stocked up on!

By 8pm we were truly tuckered and headed to bed.

How Long Bay?

On Sunday we embarked on a six hour round trip to Halong Bay. We arrived at midday and boarded a boat along with around ten other tourists.

Now a world heritage site, Halong Bay is said to be one of the world's new seven wonders of nature. The limestone bedrocks and sheer cliffs are certainly beautiful.

It turns out that everyone had paid a different amount for this trip, depending on where they had purchased their ticket. The prices varied from $25-$50, all for the exact same itinerary! Luckily we had only paid $25.

Big Boat Banquet

As soon as we were settled on board we were presented with our lunch. Plate after plate of Vietnamese food was laid upon our table. Squid, fresh prawns, chicken, fried tofu and steamed rice to name but a few.

We enjoyed our lunch with four bankers from Sri Lanka. They invited us to visit them one day and added us on Facebook – you never know!

As we ate numerous Vietnamese women appeared at the windows selling bunches of bananas from tiny boats. We don't they managed to sell many, also, how did they walk on water?

Katie & the Kayak

After lunch we arrived at a floating fishing village and jumped inside a waiting kayak. We spent the next 45 minutes exploring the bay. This place was very much like the limestone rocks of Thailand.

Floating Village

Vietnam's Wookey Hole

Next it was onto Sung Sot (Surprise) Cave. This underground wonder was much bigger than we expected. The rocks were pretty amazing, though the unnatural lighting and many tourists did detract from their majesty slightly.

The guides endless comparison of particular rock formations to animals or Buddhist deities also wore a little thin after a while. To be honest we couldn't even see half of them, but nodded away in agreement none the less. The pink phallus and giant breast caused a few giggles from the Chinese tourists.

We arrived back in Hanoi at 8:30pm, and enjoyed a tasty dinner of pumpkin soup.

Sour Sellers

The following day we packed small overnight bags and checked out of our hotel. We were to spend that night on an overnight sleeper train heading to Lào Cai.

Before this we headed to the north side of the old quarter and paid a visit to Dong Xuan – the city's largest covered market.

We weren't massive fans of this place, the locals didn't seem to like westerners being here at all. We were shooed away on two occasions. They were very rude actually, which was a shame.

We did come out with a new North Face bag though, we are loving the new inner pockets and groovy side water bottle holder. Only £10!

Paul modelling our new bag

Calm in the Storm

In the afternoon we took a wander around Goan Kiem Lake. Early morning here sees walkers, joggers and tai chi enthusiasts limber up in the half light. At 2pm there were just lots of newly weds posing for their wedding photographs and the odd Vietnamese souvineer seller.

We then enjoyed a bit of people watching sat outside a tiny cafe. The owner was a great host and walked right out into the hectic road to ensure he could take a good snap of us enjoying our beverages. In fact he got quite snap happy, trying numerous different angles and chuckling as he zipped from left to right.

When two New Yorkers came to ask for a beer, he pushed a table next to ours and brought out some additional chairs from inside. We ended up chatting for the next hour or so, and thanked the owner as he continued to bring us a huge plate of peanuts for free.

Another bumpy night

After dinner, we walked to the train station and boarded the 9:10pm sleeper train to the northern town of Lao Cai. Our New Yorker friends were on the same train, though they had their own cabin and we were in a tiny four bunk 'cell'.

Katie feeling travel sick, again

Luckily we shared with a Canadian couple who were really nice, as were their Cornish friends who came to join us for a beer. Six in a cell, yes it was a tad squashed!

The journey was incredibly bumpy and attempting to use the tiny cubicle bathroom was a challenge in itself. Water slushed everywhere and good balancing skills were definitely required!

Early Birds

We arrived into Lao Cai at 5:30am. Three loud knocks on our cabin door at 5am ensured everyone was awake! From here we took a mini bus to Sapa.

Sapa is located in the northwest region of Vietnam, where the country's highest mountain range and its tallest peak, Fan Si Pan, rises from The Red River Valley. The views driving up through the mountains were stunning.

At 7:30am we were dropped off at the Luong Thuy Family Guesthouse. This place had the most amazing views we had ever seen. We had breakfast on the roof top where you could see the stunning surrounding scenery at its best. We enjoyed omelette, fresh fruit, yoghurt and pure fruit juice in the cool, fresh air.

Mountainous Mopeds

After a quick hour and a half's nap, and numerous attempts to figure out how to get the hot water to work, we hired a moped and set off to explore the area north of Sapa. First we stopped at a small petrol station to fill up.

Driving up through the mountains was amazing. We saw a competely different side of Vietnam. Sapa's refreshing climate and almost alpine landscape were a lovely contrast to the muggy and overcrowded streets of Hanoi.

First we visited the Silver Waterfall, which cost 10,000 VD (33p) each. It was a pleasant view at the top, with very few people.

We then drove further up into the mountains to Lai Chau, where we paid 30,000 VD (98p) to walk some of the Tram Ton Pass. Truth be told we were pretty slow due to lack of sleep. Thac Tinh Yeu, aka the 'Love Waterfall', at the end was pretty impressive though.

As we headed back to Sapa town we stopped several times to take pictures of the amazing scenery.

After a questionable chicken dinner (we question whether or not it was actually chicken you see) we headed back to our guesthouse.

Tribal Trek

The following day we had booked a one day village trek with a local guide from the Black Hmong ethnic tribe. This cost $18pp, much cheaper than the two day excursion our hotel back in Hanoi had suggested for $365pp. It was incredibly misty outside, but this just made it more atmospheric.

Amazing Attire

The Black Hmong tribe are just one of around six million minority people (nearly two-thirds of Vietnam's total) who live in the isolated villages that surround Sapa. They come to town from miles around to visit the shops and market.

The women come dressed in their finery and each village has a very distinct attire which we quickly picked up on. The most striking are the Red Dao, who wear scarlet headdresses festooned with woollen tassels and silver trinkets.

Black Hmong are the most numerous group. They wear embroidered indigo-blue waistcoats, bags, hats and heavy silver jewellery.

Our guide

We were picked up at 9:30am by our guide who lived in a local village called Lao Chai. Her English was excellent, and we were shocked to learn that she has never gone to school. She said that although she could not read or write, she had picked up the spoken English language from tourists.

She also spoke Vietnamese and a bit of French, as well as her local tribal language. She was only 27 and proudly showed us photos of her seven year old daughter and younger son.

Despite repeating her name several times throughout the day, unfortanely we still cannot be sure of its spelling or pronunciation! We think it's Ton, pronounced 'Toa'.

Village Rules

We were advised of village etiquette early on. As well as dressing modestly, we were told not to take anyone's photo without first asking permission. We were also warned against touching children's heads and showing any sort of public affection.

After a short bus journey we began the 2km walk to the village. Along the way a couple of local women joined us carrying babies and huge straw baskets on their backs. They eagerly asked us lots of basic questions such as where we come from and our ages.

The views were amazing again, although unfortunately the mist was really beginning to set in now. We were repeatedly told that 'this is normally a fantastic view of the mountain' or 'usually you can see for miles around at this point.' Alas, bad weather does tend to follow us!

As we continued our hike we walked past rice paddy after rice paddy and learnt how the locals harvest the rice. It was really interesting to see their lives up close.

On our walk we did see lots of pigs, chickens and buffalos though. As well as what felt like hundreds of dogs – this was probably Katie's favourite part!

Local Lunch

From the Lao Chai village we then walked 4km more to the Dzay minority area. At midday we had lunch with a 'local family' in the Tavan village. The set up was quite manufactured (meaning that this is clearly just a daily routine for the locals), but it was nice to eat authentic Vietnamese food in a local's house none the less.

We were given huge bowls of egg and vegetable broth. Katie once again struggled with the chopsticks but tried her best. We were seated next to a lady from Singapore, two German travellers and a couple from Czech Republic. As usual, everyone spoke amazing English.

Flop, Flip & Jump

After lunch we trekked through the bamboo forest to the Giang Ta Chai village of the Red Dzao. The climb was quite steep and slippy, it was amazing to see the local woman effortlessly get to the top in old flip flops with their babies still on their back.

By this point we were pretty certain they would soon try and sell their local crafts to us, one lady had taken a particular shine to Katie, repeatedly touching her hair and trying to help her climb over the many pit holes.

Sales pitch

After a brief visit to a slightly dried up waterfall and a suspension rattan bridge, we stopped in a small undercover area five minutes from the road.

Here each lady that had been following us suddenly whipped out their embroidered goods. We were presented with cushion covers, purses, hats and scarves. It was an awkward moment, and each of us purchased one item from each lady.

They wanted us to buy much more though and consequently followed us all the way back to the mini bus. The baby even started crying on cue – we think the lady pinched a toe to trigger the tears.

Dangerous Driving

As we drove back to Sapa we could barely see out of the window for all the mist. The rain had started now too. It was a rather hair raising thirty minute drive to say the least!

After a quick hot shower, we headed out for an early dinner. Here we bumped into the Canadians from our train. We then sat next to the two New Yorkers from Hanoi on our minibus back to Lai Cai. It's seemingly a small place!

Train again

Then it was another night train back to Hanoi! We boarded at 8:30pm and prepared for the bumpy ride ahead. This time we shared with a Chinese couple who barely spoke English. At 8:45pm the lady pointed to the door, said 'Lady lock door sleep' and proceeded to get into the top bunk to sleep.

We decided to just follow suit, ensuring we locked the door as requested! It was a long night…

At midnight the train stopped and we heard people trying to get into the cabins. We were glad we locked the door!

Morning campers

We chugged into Hanoi at the grand old time of 4:30am – we seem to be getting earlier. It was raining here too, so we whipped on our ponchos and began the 25 minute walk to our hotel, hoping they'd have a bed for us at this early hour!

One for the mantelpiece

For the cost of $10 we could have our room early. We were in no frame of mind to argue, so we grabbed our bags and headed to bed.

After sleeping to around 10am we showered and headed out to pick up Paul's new suit. It fitted perfectly and he was happy as Larry! (Larry was particularly happy that morning).

We then stopped at a small street cafe and sampled some sort of bean and green fatty pork dish. The green fatty pork was not nice, but the rice with maize underneath was tasty.

Girl Power

We spent our last few hours in Hanoi exploring the market stalls and buying some last minute Vietnamese souvineers. We also paid a visit to the Museum of Vietnamese Women, which was extremely interesting.

We learnt how vital the Vietnamese woman's role in society is, and how she often earns the most money in the family. Some women were national heroes after serving in the Vietnamese Secret Service during the American war.

We were also interviewed by an English girl who was writing her thesis on the history of Vietnamese women. We like to do our bit.

Lift off for Laos

We took a minibus for 40,000 VND to Hanoi's main airport and boarded the 6:50pm flight to Luang Prabang. We were on our way to Laos!

 

Vietnam – Nha Trang, Hoi An & Hué

17/03/13 – 22/03/13

Nha Trang

Our next stop was the booming coastal city of Nha Trang. This city is the capital of the Khanh Hoa province and is considered to be one of the most beautiful bays in the world. This place is immensely popular with Russians and the main attraction seems to be lounging around on deck chairs on the beachfront.

Surrounded on all three sides by mountain ranges, Nha Trang also offers the picturesque backdrop of forest and high mountain peaks.

We arrived at 7pm and walked 2km through town to our hotel – The Ruby. Our room wasn't ready – even though it was so late – so we left our bags in reception and headed out for food.

This place felt very touristy, there were westernised shops on every corner and the stalls sold food at inflated prices. Katie was very disappointed to see that it cost £1.20 for a small bruised mango!

The traffic was much less hectic than Ho Chi Minh City though so we could actually cross the road without fearing for our lives!

Noodle broths

The next morning we headed out to explore and our first stop was Nha Trang Cathedral. There were a couple here posing for their wedding photographs and Katie snapped away.

We then had an authentic Vietnamese lunch of chicken Pho (noodle soup), which is the immensely popular national dish. Well Paul did, Katie opted for the less traditional tomato soup. This ended up containing huge chucks of raw garlic – lovely stuff.

Paul liked his Pho but wouldn't rave about it, it seems he is still blissfully obsessed with Pad Thai.

We later took a walk along the waterfront, careful to avoid eye contact with the many Vietnamese street sellers trying to force their fake Ray Ban sunglasses and questionable crocodile skin wallets upon us.

Crocodile Hunted

Speaking of crocodile, that evening – Paul being ever the adventurer – sampled another new cuisine, crocodile steak. His verdict: tough but tasty. The small restaurant gave us a free dessert of cinnamon apple pie and ice cream, amazing!

Bus Bed

The next day we had booked a fourteen hour overnight bus journey to Hoi An. This left at 5pm, so we wasted the day sunbathing on the beach and wandering around town whilst Katie drank numerous mango smoothie shakes and Vietnamese iced coffees. Paul watched in awe.

On the bus we were lucky enough to get the back row, where you could actually lie down flat(ish). We shared this sleeping booth with another English couple, Leigh and Callum. Luckily the fifth seat remained vacant so we had a tiny bit of extra space. It was quite an intimate meeting, so we're glad we all got along!

Could Katie smile any more?

Paul's foot (for perspective)

Bumpy Dreams

The journey itself was pretty horrendous. Vietnamese driving seems chaotic to us at the best of times and the roads in the countryside are ridiculously bumpy. What's more the driver beeps once every ten seconds or so to warn cyclists and mopeds that it is coming through!

The buses also overtake in crazy places, there were often gasps from the passengers as we narrowly missed an oncoming lorry or wagon whilst flying around a bend. Gulp.

Somehow, Paul managed to get a few hours kip and dreamt he was tied to a treadmill. Katie, on the other hand, barely slept a wink. The constant bumps and fear that our bags were going to be stolen kept her wide awake despite our superior anti-theft precautions – Paul slept spooning the valuables bag.

We rolled into Hoi An at 8am looking and feeling slightly worse for wear.

Our Hoi An Family

Seeing as we weren't in a rush, we decided to leisurely stroll to our guesthouse.

Luckily we were staying with a lovely family at their home – it was called the Nature Homestay – and the mother said she'd get our room ready for us by 10:30am, that meant that we didn't have to wait for the standard 2pm check in.

It was still very early, but we thought we may as well begin exploring. We borrowed two bikes and cycled the fifteen minute ride into town.

We immediately liked this place lots more than Nha Trang. One reason was because of the strict no moped area, so you could walk and cycle along many of the streets without fear of being run over. It felt much more peaceful.

Cycling city

We spent the morning cycling through the narrow streets admiring the busy market, pretty lanterns and sleepy side streets with wooden-fronted shops. This place is famous for its abundance of tailoring shops but a concerted effort has clearly been made to retain the city's old-world charm.

After returning to our guesthouse for a quick shower, we headed back out and enjoyed an amazing lunch in a small restaurant called Cafe 57.

The entire city was extremely quaint, pretty and welcoming. One of the focal features is the very old Japanese Covered Bridge which sits on the Thu Bon River.

After cycling out of town for half an hour we found a beautiful pastoral setting for a traditional photograph of Vietnam. The only thing missing is the hat!

Mop Chop

As we headed back Paul noticed a shop which looked like it had a small barbers located at the back. We went in, past the clothes and chopsticks to find a lady sat in front of a big mirror. Her English wasn't bad, so Paul decided he would take the opportunity to have a haircut.

She did a great job and clearly thought so herself as she requested a picture of her masterpiece. We don't think she cuts much Western hair. It cost 150,000 Dong (£5).

We were feeling pretty tuckered once we reached our accommodation and were looking forward to the cold beers that we had just purchased. As we got to our door though, Paul couldn't find the room key…

Key hunt

After nearly 5 months of travelling in many different hostels we had not once lost our room key. As our beers began to warm we considered our options. In the end we dropped the bags and jumped back on the bikes to retrace our steps around town.

To add insult to injury, a storm was brewing. After an hour we had again pedalled around the town, but alas, we could not find any trace of our beloved key.

We cycled back to our Homestay defeated, embarrassed and begrudgingly approached reception to apologise and find out how much we would need to pay for a replacement.

After a fairly confusing conversation consisting of pigeon English and a lot of miming, the owner casually presented us with our key. We still aren't sure whether this was a spare, or whether our original key had somehow been located and returned. The lady just giggled and walked off.

Bus to Hué

The next day we took yet another bus north to our next destination, Hué. First we had an extremely authentic Pho lunch in a tiny local cafe. Luckily the one other customer was an American-Vietnamese man and he translated what we wanted to the owner. There was no menu, so we simply asked for chicken.

We were presented with a huge bowl of chicken noodle soup, a salad and a popadum style crispy bread. All for under £2. We don't think we ate it in the correct manner though, as the locals seemed to be laughing at us and kept pointing to the salad(?).

After a five hour jouney, we rocked up in Hué. For once the bus stopped within 20 seconds of our guesthouse, The Hong Thuien 2. Result!

The Forbidden City

The following morning, after a cracking free breakfast of fresh fruit and omelette, we headed to the nineteenth century walled citadel on the north bank of the Perfume River.

This houses the once magnificent Imperial City containing administrative offices, parks and dynastic temples, with the royal palaces of the Forbidden Purple City at the centre.

The citadel covers 520 hectares, is enclosed within a seven metre high twenty metre thick brick wall and is encircled by a moat and canal. Despite the majority of the structures being blitzed in Vietnam's volatile past, the place certainly exudes something of a regal, dignified air.

We spent a good couple of hours exploring the remnants and learning about this royal site.

We saw the huge flag tower, or Cot Co, which dominates the southern battlements. The yellow-starred Viet Cong flag flies proudly at the top.

After lunch, we spent the afternoon wandering around the shops and watching tourists being cycled about town in xich lo's.

Off to the capital

From Hué it was time to tackle the overnight bus to Vietnam's capital city, Hanoi. We arrived sleepy and disorientated at 6:30am where we sat in a cafe for the next four hours…

 

Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh City & Mui Ne

13/03/13 – 17/03/13

Ha Tien border crossing

Because we decided to go to the quieter town of Kep instead of the holiday resort of Sihanoukville, we had limited options in terms of transport to get across the border to Vietnam.

Our Tuk Tuk driver from the previous day, Mr. T, offered us a fast and cheap solution. It involved a Tuk Tuk, two motorbikes and a bus.

Bumpy ride

Mr. T picked us up from our guesthouse at 7am and we raced towards the border. It was about 50 minutes away and he had another customer to collect at 8:30am so he was against the clock. We clung to the armchair seats as we bounced along the uneven dirt roads and got covered in clouds of dust.

On route we passed lots of salt farms, where Cambodians were hard at work on their individual plots.

Phase 2: The Motorbikes

As we approached the border crossing we jumped out of the Tuk Tuk, paid Mr. T $14 – which in hindsight was quite expensive – and mounted two awaiting motorbikes, driven by two friends of Mr. T. We sat on the back with our backpacks nestled inbetween the driver's legs.

At the crossing we showed the guard our visas and then walked the 100 metres of limbo out of Cambodia and into Vietnam.

There was no queue on the Vietnam side so we had our passports stamped, paid $1 to fill out a medical form (an unavoidable scam) and jumped back on the bikes.

Ha Tien

It took about 15 minutes to reach Ha Tien's central bus station. First we randomly stopped at a small shop, where our drivers told us to change our dollars into Vietnamese Dong (VND) and buy our bus tickets to Ho Chi Minh City. This did not feel legit so we declined. There was also a second unscheduled stop at a city ATM.

When we finally got off the bikes Paul's driver started barking for $10. This was $7 more than Mr. T had promised.

We refused to be scammed but they wouldn't release our bags until we paid them. Other Vietnamese bus ticket sellers had started to gather round as we tried to stand our ground. Eventually we settled on $6, which we would have happily paid from the start. It was a shame they tricked us into giving it to them.

The Final Leg

We then went to buy a bus ticket and were offered two prices: 350,000 VND ($16 USD) or $50 USD. It was simple math to anyone with a currency converter (thanks iPhone). We were suddenly glad that the drivers had taken us to an ATM!

The bus left at 11am and we rolled into Ho Chi Minh city some nine hours later. We took a taxi to our guesthouse with a French couple who spoke barely any English. Katie attempted to speak French for the entire 20 minute journey.

We made it!

We unloaded our bags at Thanh Thuong Guesthouse and took a wander around. The city was unbelievably hectic. We were immediately surrounded by lights, noise and thousands of whizzing mopeds and quickly learnt that crossing the road was no easy feat. The locals just walk out into the traffic bold as brass.

We found a tasty bakery called ABC and Paul got some chocolate brownie which was a 'taste sensation' after not having any for five months. We then headed back to get some sleep.

Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon?

We got up, had breakfast at ABC Bakery and explored the city. There was so much to see and smell! There were food stalls on every corner selling everything from fresh fruit to raw meat.

First stop was a visit to Ben Thanh Market where we bought our standard souvenir – a fridge magnet – and got some lunch. Katie was getting back on the fruit smoothies and iced coffee. She was in her element as they sell iced baileys coffee here for around £1.

After lunch we visited the War Remnant Musuem, which cost just 50p. It was very impressive for such a small entrance fee and chartered the history of Vietnamese war crimes as well as the big American one. The stories, testimonies and images were extremely harrowing.

The 'American' War

We still don't fully understand how the Vietnam War actually started. It is interesting to note that in the Western world we know it as the 'Vietnam War' where as everyone calls it the 'American War'. We think this speaks volumes.

The musuem also showed the affects of the toxic chemicals that the USA sprayed over large parts of Vietnam. Of the 72 million litres of chemicals they sprayed, 44 million were Agent Orange – the most toxic chemical ever discovered.

The affects of this awful substance are still apparent today. The images of the disfigured sufferers are brutally shocking.

Notre Dam Cathedral

Next we went to see the Notre Dam cathedral. Here we saw a number of couples having their wedding photos taken.

The general post office was also a 'must see' – according to the map. It looked more like a big train station than a post office to us.

Rush Hour

It took us a while to get back to our guesthouse as we couldn't work out which road was best to cross. It was 5pm on a Friday evening and 'rush hour' doesn't even begin to explain the bedlam.

Grub's up

That evening our guesthouse recommended a tiny cafe next door called Asian Kitchen. The food was tasty and cheap and the drinks were a bargain; Paul had a beer for 30p while Katie downed numerous mojithas for 80p each.

Katie has given up worrying about the ice here because a) it doesn't effect her and b) she loves iced drinks.

All aboard, chu chu!

The next day we embarked on a half day tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels in Ben Tinh. This place is a prime example of why the Americans couldn't beat the Viet Cong guerillas.

Over 200km of underground tunnels lay beneath the town. There are three different levels which go down up to ten metres. The passages were extremely tight. We both managed to squeeze into the opening of one, these definitely weren't designed for big bottomed westerners!

We also saw the inhumane traps that the Viet Cong handcrafted to maim the US ground troops.

Sealed trap

Trap opened

Deathly traps

There were hundreds of variations of these traps – all involving sharpened bamboo sticks – from pitfalls to swinging spikes. The one that stood out most was the door trap which would impale a soldier who opened a hut door.

Ropes behind a door released a plank of spikes that would swing into the torso of a soldier. The worst bit was that if the soldier blocked himself from the plank, another smaller plank which was connected underneath would swing independently and hit the soldier below his waist.

Our guide called it the 'Baby Maker Killer'.

The Underground

Next we got to crawl through a section of tunnel. Well, Paul did…Katie held the bags.

The tunnels were crafted out of strong clay and were extremely hard wearing. They zigzagged and got extremely narrow in places so any brave GIs who entered would get stuck.

Every thirty metres there was a tiny tunnel entrance/exit. The reason they were so close was so the Viet Cong could get underground quickly if there was an air raid.

Also, if a GI found an entrance and threw a grenade down the hole, a Viet Cong would poke up behind the soldier and shoot him in the back.

Lock 'N' Load

As Paul crawled through the tight tunnels he could hear gunfire, this made the experience very atmospheric. The tour ended at the source of the gunfure, the shooting range. Here visitors could fire one of the rifles from the war. This is only possible here and in Cambodia.

Paul paid about £10 to shoot ten bullets from an AK47. It wasn't an amazing experience, but it was a box that was worth ticking. The kickback from the gun was minimal and Paul missed every target.

Katie held the bags again and jumped at every bang.

The entrance fee to the Cu Chi tunnels was 90,000 VND (£3) and it was well worth the trip.

That evening we took a wander around the local night market and had a good attempt at haggling again.

Mui Ne

The next day we took a bus with Capitol Bus Company to Mui Ne – a small beach town five hours north of Ho Chi Minh.

We stayed one night at the Sunrise Mui Ne Hotel which we had booked the night before – and for £6 each we weren't expecting too much. Luckily, this was the best hotel so far!

We had a fridge, clean towels, a TV and even a balcony! Plus there were some crazy disco lights on the ceiling. Not only that, we also had a sea view!

Soccer Sunday

We spent the afternoon looking around the small shops and chilling on the beach. As the sun went down we watched as the locals finished fishing for the day and had a game of beach football.

Nha Trang Bound

After an amazing free breakfast of omelette, fresh fruit, yoghurt and Vietnamese coffee, we climbed on board a posh sleeper bus to Nha Trang…

 

Cambodia – Phnom Penh & Kep

8/03/13 – 13/03/13

Phnom Penh

The guidebook says: The glimmering spires of the royal palace, the fluttering saffron of the monks’ robes, and the luscious location on the banks of the mighty Mekong; Phnom Penh is one of Asia’s undiscovered gems.

This city is certainly an assault on the senses! Motorbikes whiz through the backstreets without a thought for pedestrians, pungent scents float up from stalls and markets and there is a constant manic panic to keep moving.

The streets are crazy busy, entire families ride on the back of a single moped and locals carry enormous loads on the back of their bikes, from huge pigs to six foot panes of glass. The roads are narrow and full of pit holes – it's safe to say we didn't fancy attempting to drive here!

The White Rabbit

We easily found a Tuk Tuk driver who took us to our hostel, The White Rabbit. This place is run by two Americans, so it's got a pretty western atmosphere. At 'Happy Hour' pints of beer are 75 cents! Our room wasn't great though, the toilet didn't work and the cleanliness was questionable, but there was air con – hooray!

For dinner we stumbled upon a real gem of a restaurant, a tiny Italian called Nike's Pizza Place which sold amazing calzones and fresh pasta for around $3.50. They even gave us free fresh fruit for dessert. We couldn't believe we could get this in the heart of Cambodia.

The real Cambodia

The next morning we got up early to sort out our Vietnamese Visa. Well Paul did. After a bit of a faf, involving a random guy on a motorbike demanding our passports, all seemed to be sorted and we were promised our stamped documents back later that day. The visas cost $75 each.

After breakfast we took a Tuk Tuk to Choeung Ek which was 15km out of town. It was here that we saw The Killing Fields. The entire experience was extremely harrowing. You walk around the grassy land with headsets listening to terrifying stories and descriptions from the years of the Khmer Rouge.

We were told that the prisoners were made to wait in this area for up to 24 hours before they were killed by a blow to the head. People were beaten to death as bullets were 'too expensive'.

A huge memorial temple has been built in the centre – holding bones and skulls from the bodies that have been exhumed. It is a silent place.

S-21

After walking around the fields we went back to town to visit the Tuol Sleng Musuem, or S-21 Prison as it is often referred. This is the location where the Khmer Rouge held their prisoners before taking them to the killing fields for execution.

This haunting place serves as another testament to the crimes of the Khmer Rouge. It actually used to be a school. Again we walked around reading the testimonies in silence. A strange and sad day.

City dwellers

We spent our last day in the capital walking around the huge city. We visited The Royal Palace and saw the University of Art. We found a small food market, where once again we were charged over the odds for a small bag of fruit. Our haggling skills don't seem to be improving.

We also saw some tiny puppies for sale, alongside pigeons, chickens and guinea pigs.

Quiet Kep

From Phnom Penh we took a five hour bus down south to the tiny coastal village of Kep. This place used to be a thriving beach resort until the Khmer Rouge destroyed much of it in the 1970's. You can still see the crumbling remains of the 1960's bungalows.

The town is trying to make a name for itself again and we think it will be a very different place in ten years time. For now though it felt quaint and isolated. There are hardly any shops, no ATMs and few tourists.

We stayed two nights at the Lida Khmer House – tiny bungalow style rooms ten minutes from the sea. This place was extremely basic, but for £1.50 each a night we weren't complaining.

Pepper and Crabs

After dumping our bags, we hired bikes for $3 and cycled to the famous crab market. Kep is renowned for two things: crab and sweet peppercorns – which are apparently used by the best chefs in Paris.

Crab's eye or peppercorn?

We had an early dinner sat by the sea. Paul braved the crab, and had to be shown by the amused waitress how to crack the shell and remove the meat. Katie opted for fresh grilled fish (the type of fish wasn't specified) and chips. When we say chips, we mean she had exactly five on her plate.

Cash dash

It was then that we suddenly realised that we only had $50 dollars left in cash, this had to pay for a day trip we had booked for the following day, food, water and our transport to Ho Chi Minh City – and we had just splashed out $15 on our seafood meal. Oops!

Luckily Paul located a posh hotel up a dirt track and they were able to give us money for a small fee.

We also purchased the most amazing looking fresh almond and custard croissants from their small bakery. Katie was very excited about breakfast the next morning. Paul had to stop her from taking a small bite there and then.

Ants like croissants

Just before we headed to bed Katie had one last cheeky glance at her prized croissant, only to discover that millions of tiny ants had decided to feast upon her treat!

A long trail of these nasty fiends went from outside our wooden shack, onto our bedside table, into the bakery bag and into the pastry box. Absolutely gutted!

Rabbit Island

After sulkingly eating a packet of dry cheese crackers for breakfast, we took a Tuk Tuk at 8:40am to the harbour. Here we boarded a longboat and headed out to Rabbit Island.

This place was peacefully quiet, it had a small beach and a couple of small cafes. Only seven families live on the island and they earn their living by fishing and growing coconut trees.

It was just a shame that they don't look after the environment. Behind the cafes the ground was littered with hundreds of glass bottles and lots of waste paper.

We left the island at 4pm, and after nipping back to the hotel bakery to buy fresh almond croissant no. 2, we enjoyed dinner sat on a cafe rooftop by the water.

Next stop, 'Nam!

We then had to figure out how to get to the Vietnamese border crossing and onto Ho Chi Minh City the following morning!

 

Cambodia – Siem Reap

5/03/13 – 8/03/13

Border crossing

We had heard some real horror stories about Aranyaprathet, the main border crossing between Thailand and Cambodia. Fortunately for us, Karen informed us about a new bus service – which had only started 8 days ago. This is the first time that it has been possible to drive directly from Bangkok to Siem Reap without having to change buses at the border.

The bus had air-con and lots of empty seats. It cost 750 Baht each and saved us a lot of hassle by eliminating the potential to be scammed at the border. They even gave us a small packed lunch of pork and rice. Result!

We're in Cambodia

As we drove through Cambodia, we immediately noticed a difference between the two countries. The countryside seemed much dryer and the villages consisted mainly of wooden huts and roadside markets. No 7/11s here.

Eventually the wooden shacks turned into concrete buildings and increased in volume. After a total of nine hours on the road we had finally arrived! Our bus pulled up at the entrance to an extremely posh hotel called the Empress Angkor.

Tuk Tuk?

Our bags were thrown off the bus, and a swarm of Tuk Tuk drivers raced towards us yelling 'Tuk Tuk to town only $5'.

There was a catch though – they also wanted to secure us for sight-seeing the following day for an extra cost of $20. Luckily our hostel advertised free pick up, so we borrowed a phone from a girl on our bus and made a call.

Within fifteen minutes Mr Beer O' Clock (all staff at our hostel had funny 'western' names) rocked up.

Tuk Tuk Rally

We jumped in his Tuk Tuk and headed to town. It was very busy, beepy and dusty – despite only travelling about 20mph.

Mr. Beer O' Clock was a clear pro at navigating the streets. He would avoid the huge holes in the road, swerve out past slow cyclists and dodge any cat/dog/child that ran out into the road.

We stopped sundenly on a busy road, and realised that we had arrived at Angkor Wonder Hostel. It was here that we would be spending the next three nights.

Toastie

The staff were lovely, but our room was ridiculously hot. The fan did not work and the air con puffed out a tiny whiff of warm air once every 5 minutes. At night we boiled.

There was a lot of building work going on outside too due to a power cut days before that had knocked out all of Siem Reap's electricity. This also meant that there were no pavements. All part of the experience of Cambodia!

We walked into town and had a $1.25 dinner of fried curry rice. We declined the free iced tea – we were steering clear of all ice – then we crashed.

Siem Reap

The next morning Mr Beer O'Clock No. Two – the male staff here seem to have the same name – drove us to the war museum in his Tuk Tuk.

This was a very sad place. An ex-war veteran showed us around the military vessels, rusty Soviet tanks and gun displays all of which were incased in a peaceful garden.

Shockingly this man had survived after being shot four times during the Khmer Rouge era. He had also lost a leg after stepping on a landmine and asked us touch the shrapnel that still resided under his skin.

We walked around in silence not knowing quite what to say – especially when he told us how his friends and family were all killed by the Khmer Rouge, through disease, landmines or execution.

His best friend was killed in a tank as it drove over a mine, the carcass of the vehicle still contained human bones and even a soldier's flip flop. It was a sobering reminder of war's brutality.

The worst part was when he asked if we wanted a photo taken with one of the big guns, the same model which the Khmer Rouge had used to shoot him in the knee. It was an odd, awkward moment – we didn't want to hold the gun let alone take a picture of it…

Broken streets

From the museum we headed back to town and dawdled around the markets. We were careful to avoid the many scams that we had previously read about. A popular one is called 'The Milk Scandal'.

A crying woman carrying a tired/weak/sedated baby approaches western tourists begging – not for money – but for them to buy some powdered milk for her baby.

The woman then takes you to a shop where she specifically points out the powdered milk she needs – which can cost up to $30 USD!

Once the milk has been purchased the woman leaves the shop and you go your seperate ways. Minutes later she returns to the shop, hands back the milk and is paid a percentage of the money made on the sale. It is the shopkeepers running the scam!

Their tactile approach and hostile attitude is quite alarming. Luckily we didnt really experience much of this, though one woman did run up to Katie, shake her arm and shriek 'milk!'. It made Katie jump out of her skin.

As well as dodging the scammers, you need to ignore the continous cries of 'motorbike?' or 'Tuk Tuk?' from the taxi men on every street corner. It's also wise to watch your step – the pavement is uneven to say the least. Here is Paul stepping over a small crack in the pavement as he leaves a shop:

Early risers

The next morning we were back in our Tuk Tuk at 5:30am(!) to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat, the eighth wonder of the world. Built around the first half of the 12th century, the temple's composition and beauty make it one of the finest monuments ever built.

The entry fee is $20 and the set-up is very professional. After payment they snap a photo which gets printed onto your ticket – at 6am this was not a pretty sight.

Ten minutes later we were walking towards the famous five spires of Angkor. This place is the heart and sole of Cambodia and it is easy to see why!

We nestled ourselves within the crowd and enjoyed watching the sun come up over this magnificent structure.

Wat amazing decor

The interior of the temple is equally as impressive. Bas-reliefs, depicting stories and characters from Hindu mythology, line the walls. The carvings and state of preservation is incredible.

The wild monkeys that hang around the central complex aren't quite so inviting though, they bite and scratch so we stayed well clear. We saw them steal a French girl's water bottle.

Just outside the temple there were many artists at work, some of the pieces of work were beautiful but unfortunately they wouldnt fit in our backpacks.

The Angkor Complex

The Angkor Archaeological Park is much more than just Angkor Wat. The area stretches over 400 square kilometres and contains the remains of several other magnificent temples.

So at 9am, after a mango and pineapple snack, we headed to our next stop, Bayon. This is one of the most widely recognised temples in Siem Reap because of the giant stone faces that adorn the towers. There are 54 towers each with four faces carved within them, totaling 216 faces!

Baphuon Beauty

Located to the northwest of the Bayon, the Baphuon is supposed to represent Mount Meru (sacred to Hinduism), and was one of the largest and grandest structures in Angkor.

Built into the western face of the Baphuon is a giant reclining Buddha, added in the 16th century after the region converted from Hinduism to Buddhism.

Lara Croft

After an hour spent wandering around the ruins we jumped back into our Tuk Tuk and headed to our last stop before lunch, Ta Prohm – the famous site where Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider was filmed.

Much of this temple was uncovered from the jungle and huge tree trunks have forced their way through the stonework. Large sections are unstable rubble and have been cordoned off, as they are in real danger of collapse. It is a fascinating place.

Cocunuts and Omelettes

By this point it was 12pm and we were rather hungry so Mr. Beer O'Clock took us to a small cafe away from the temples. He was a genuinely nice guy so we asked him if he would like to join us for lunch.

He spoke OK English and told us that he was our age and had never left Cambodia. We ordered a vegetable omelette each and he had a pork noodle soup and a coconut drink.

Not the best omelette we've ever had – a few napkins were required to dab away the grease – but Mr Beer O'Clock seemed to enjoy his soup.

Landmine museum

After lunch we took a look around the Cambodian Landmine museum. This place was established in 1997 by ex-child soldier Aki Ra.

After years of fighting he returned to the villages in which he planted thousands of mines and began to remove them. He removed them from the ground by hand, defusing them with homemade tools. His story is incredibly inspiring.

This is more than just a museum. It is also a home that provides education and support for dozens of at-risk youth and landmine affected children rescued by the charity.

This museum was really well set out and we spent an hour walking through the exhibition rooms. It is terrifying to think that five million landmines still lie hidden within the country. That's one landmine for every three Cambodians.

Breakdown

On the way back from the museum our Tuk Tuk broke down. Mr Beer O'Clock appeared to run over something and the front wheel began to swerve uncontrollable.

We steered/crashed off the road onto some grass and came to an abrupt stop. Seemed like we had a flat tyre.

Luckily a garage was only across the road. When we say garage, we mean a man with a spare tire and pump. Fortunately, he had an apprentice – his ten year old son – who was on hand to help him out.

We finally returned to our hostel at 4pm, hot and sweaty. After a cold shower we headed back into town and succumbed to the western end of town called 'Pub Street'.

Here we thoroughly enjoyed a chicken sandwich and chips. The local food really wasn't doing it for us!

Off to the capital

The next morning we took a 9am bus to the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. The bus only made two brief stops during the eight hour journey.

With no toilet on board we didn't like to drink too much. While the locals nipped off and crouched on the side of the road to relieve themselves, we decided to wait and hope for a lunch break half way.

We stopped at a tiny market, which mainly sold peanuts, fruit and fried insects. We opted for a bag of elephant nuts, which turned out to be wet and soggy, and two bananas, which turned out to be brown and bruised. D'oh!

Five hours later, we arrived in Phnom Penh…

 

Thailand – Koh Phangan, Ayutthaya & Bangkok

25/02/13 – 04/03/13

Beautiful Beach

After a short but rocky boat ride from Koh Samui we arrived on Koh Phangan. This is perhaps Thailand's most famous island due to its notorious Full Moon Party which takes place – you guessed it – every full moon.

After a well organised minibus dropped us at our accommodation, Phangan Rainbow Bungalows, it was 3pm and we were hungry. Therefore we headed off to find the local town…

After 20 minutes and many hills, we finally found a hill top restaurant with amazing ocean views. We didn't see many people walking, the lack of pavement and crazy steep hills help explain the volume of whizzing mopeds.

Phangan Rainbow Bungalows

Full Moon Fever

After chilling out on our private beach for a bit, we tentatively rented a moped and headed off to town to buy supplies for that evening's party. This was our fifth island and we had already heard a few stories of the common 'moped scam'.

Basically you hire a moped for the agreed price – they typically slightly undercut their competition to bag more customers – then when you return the bike they sting you with a huge list of damage they say you have caused. The price tag is hefty!

It happened to our friends on Koh Tao and there is a guy on Koh Phangan who runs a similar operation. The best way to avoid such hassle is to ask a trustworthy source where's best to rent, e.g. your accommodation. Which is what we did.

We digress…

We purchased lots of neon gear and then had a super cheap lunch in the food market. The fruit smoothies here were only 20 Baht (40p) – which made Katie's day – and there was a huge array of sweet treats on display. For dessert, we enjoyed a large plate of mixed fruit from a very colourful stall.

Katie's day being made

Party Time

After a brief visit to the Thaan Sadet waterfall we headed back to our bungalow to have dinner and get ready for the party. Stupid headbands and embarrassing glowing t-shirts were donned. We fitted right in.

The Full Moon Party itself was manic and surreal. Thousands of people lined the streets in their neon gear and thousands more partied on the beach while drinking from lethal buckets of spirit and mixer.

No snaps I'm afraid. We didnt take the camera out – just incase we ended up in the sea – but it was a hectic, memorable evening!

What a pair of plonkers.

Bangkok Bound

After a day spent recuperating, we took the 1pm ferry back to Surat Thani port. From here it was a one hour bus journey to the centre of town on an overcrowded rickety bus with no air con. We then took a songathaew to the O Valley Hotel which is located on the outskirts of town next to the airport.

This place was luxurious by our recent standards, it was great to finally have a hot shower! Although we don't think much of Thai TV.

The next morning the free breakfast included noodles and oyster sauce – not what you fancy at 6am – so after dodging that bullet we jumped on board our 8:30am flight to Bangkok and soon arrived into Don Mueng airport.

Here we were lucky enough to be greeted by Karen, Paul's cousin's friend who lives in the outskirts of Bangkok. She had kindly offered to show us around and let us stay for three nights with her and her husband, Phil.

We think our room was bigger than all of our hostel rooms put together!

Ancient Ayutthaya

First, we went to the Cambodian Embassy. Anticipating huge queues and a three day wait for our visas, we were pleasantly surprised to be in and out in under 45 minutes, Cambodian visas in tow. We hoped this would make our border crossing in a couple of days much simpler.

From the embassy, Karen's driver – Khun Noom – headed north to Ayutthaya and we enjoyed lunch sat beside the river. A quick look around the museum taught us a little about Ayutthaya's history.

The Story of Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya was the Thai capital for 417 years, this old city is characterised by the prang (religious towers) and magnificent ancient ruins and artifacts. It was founded in 1350 by King U-Thong who proclaimed it as the capital of his kingdom.

At its peak in the 18th century it had nearly 1,000,000 citizens, making it one of the largest cities in the world at the time. However the union collapsed in 1767 when the Burmese army stormed and destroyed the city.

To this day you can see the impressive remains along with hundreds of headless Buddha statues from where the Burmese cut off their heads in the rampage.

Headless Buddhas

Forgotten City

Next was Wat Phra Si Sanphet which, in Ayutthaya's heyday, was the largest temple in the city. The three main chedis which have been restored contain the ashes of the three Ayutthaya kings. The architecture was amazing and we took some great photos – even if we do say so ourselves.

Elephants everywhere

From here we visited Wat Phra Ram and watched huge elephants carry tourists around the outskirts of the ruins. The elephants, mingled with the taxis, tuk tuks and buddha statues was a memorable picture.

We had to keep jumping out of the way of the elephants who didn't seem to keep to a set path. Or perhaps it was just bad driving.

Eyes on the road John!

A Tuk Tuk

Buddha in a bush

Our third and final stop of the day was at Wat Mahathat which was built over 600 years ago. This temple is particularly famous as the head of an ancient Buddha image is encased in the overground roots of a Bo tree.

The destruction the Burmese caused is overwhelming and the headless Buddhas everywhere make the area extremely atmospheric.

We returned to Karen and Phil's at around 7pm for a wonderful turkey and vegetable dinner. Yum.

Busy Bangkok

We really had no concept of just how big Bangkok was until Khun Noom started driving down the freeway the next day. The roads are massive, intermingled and extremely confusing. We couldn't believe the vast amount of noise and traffic!

At 10am we took a water taxi down the Chao Phraya river (often translated as 'the River of Kings') and got off at stop number 9 – The Grand Palace. This place is undoubtedly Bangkok's most famous landmark and we immediately saw why.

We walked past a shouting clothes inspection lady who was explaining that shoulders and all flesh above the ankle had to be covered up as a mark of respect for this sacred place. We paid the 500 Baht ticket fee and entered the palace.

Tremendous temples

This place was incredible, the golden encrusted temples and statues were like nothing we had ever seen. We spent a good hour admiring all of the beautiful architecture and intricate detail.

Our pictures really do not do the Grand Palace justice.

Fashion season

Within the palace complex there are several impressive buildings including Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). This building contains the small, very famous and greatly revered Emerald Buddha that dates back to the 14th century.

Interesting to note, the robes on the Buddha are changed with the seasons by The King of Thailand, and forms an important ritual in the Buddhist calendar.

These are all the rage in Milan

Royal robes

After the palace we had a look around the Textiles museum, where we both learnt a lot about Thailand's royal family. The King and Queen are highly respected figures here and have reigned for nearly 70 years. They have helped the country greatly and it was interesting to read about all the things they have done.

God Save The Queen

The Queen is a beautiful, inspirational role model to women all over Asia. In the 1940s it was the law to 'dress in western clothes' in Thailand. When the Queen was crowned in the late 50's, at the age of 17, she reinstated Thai identity by instigating the reform of their national dress.

We also learnt that the King is an accomplished musician, sportsman, inventor and 'founding father of modern day Thailand'. He converted the opium farms of the north into prosperous rice farms and enforced Thailand's brutal laws against drugs.

Drugs and thugs

Paul has just finished a book – The Damage Done – about an ex-inmate of Bang Kwang, Bangkok's most horrendous prison for drug smugglers. A English teenager recently got sentenced to 99 years for being caught at the airport with 3000 ecstasy tablets. They call the prison 'Big Tiger' because it eats men alive.

Sorry, digressing again…

Into the city….

For lunch we grabbed a few goodies from a small market, Katie sampling an odd sweetcorn and coconut pancake concoction. Verdict – nice without the sweetcorn.

We then drove to the Royal Barge museum, which was situated down some small and windy back streets. We had to carefully pass a monk on a small bridge at one point. This area of town seemed a bit more 'rural', so we were surprised to turn a corner and stumble upon elaborate royal barges!

Books and Boats

For dinner we met Karen and Phil's friends who live in Bangladesh. We enjoyed a Lebanese cuisine and numerous iced mint lemonades – much nicer than they sound!

Before we headed back to Karen's, we visited the Logos Hope floating book store. This is a massive ship which tours the world selling reasonably priced books.

It is run by a Christian charity who organise many worthwhile projects in the poorer countries they visit. All the staff are volunteers and we spoke to one girl from Poland who just boarded in Cambodia and will be living on the boat for the next two years!

Fancy Fruit

While at Karen's we sampled a number of new exotic fruits. Our favourites so far have been the pomelo and mango steen.

Pomelos are similar to white grapefruits just less bitter. Mango steens are white fleshed and sweet, and encased in a hard brown shell which requires a special technique to open – Katie soon mastered this, the fruit fiend that she is.

We also ate quite a few black bean sesame biscuits during our stay!

Bikes in Bangkok

The following morning we went on a three hour bike ride with Phil through the streets of outer Bangkok. He was a superb guide and it was great to get away from the crowds and see more of the less touristic side of the city.

We cycled past many authentic stalls, cafes and traditional Thai houses built on stilts (for when it floods). We stopped briefly at a tiny floating market, where Thai women were selling hot food to locals from their boats.

We then took a small boat across the river to see the Big Golden Buddha. The boat was tiny, and balancing three big bikes on the back was a real challenge!

From here we visited the island of Ko Kret – famous for its kilns and pottery. We maneuvered our bikes through the long and windy undercover market, marveling at the crafts and interesting snacks on sale.

We stopped for a huge iced coffee – for only 20 Baht (40p) – and tiny sweet pancakes, which were covered in a tasty white meringue-like substance.

On the way back the heavens opened, and we cycled the last ten minutes or so in torrential rain. Soaked is an understatement.

Quirky Markets

After a late lunch we headed to Wat Takien temple which has an authentic floating market. The Thai women rowed their small food filled boats up and down the river selling their fresh and fantastic smelling produce. Again not a tourist in sight!

This place also had some incredible statues and monuments, the meanings behind some of them being rather unclear.

While Katie posed by a comical giant buddha, a monk walked up behind Paul and also took a photo of her and the statue – he took a while fiddling with the lens so Katie awkwardly sat in position a little longer than felt comfortable.

Dogs playing poker!

Dragon & the dork.

That night we ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Que Pasa ('what's happening' in Spanish).

Bangkok shoppers

We spent our last morning in Bangkok planning our trip through Cambodia. After this we bid Karen and Phil farewell and Khun Noom dropped us at our hostel in the centre of BKK.

That afternoon we jumped on the city's Sky Train and visited the Siam Paragon. This is an enormous mall that holds countless luxury shops. There were even Maserati, Ferrari and Lamborghini cars for sale on the top floor. One shop displayed only one car in some instances!

Naturally, we splashed out by going to Boots to purchase Pringles and face wipes.

After leaving the fancy mall, we went down to the street level – or the hood as the kids call it – and snooped around the local markets. The prices were much more inviting here and we went on a bit of a spending spree!

We bought:

• Two t-shirts – Paul
• A dress – not Paul
• Bottle opener – no more gorilla bottle opening!
• A new lock – Paul lost the others
• A neck pillow – for luxury bus rides
• A watch – alas, Katie's £2 white one from Singapore went brown. We're quietly confident about this new beauty for £1.50
• A ring – it cost 40p and Katie was wearing it for 26 seconds before the middle 'gem' fell out.

All of this for well under £20!

Cabbages & what?!

That evening we dined at a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms. It's a quirky establishment which our South African friends in Phuket told us about.

Basically it's a nice restaurant that supports family planning in poor countries. To represent this, scattered around the restaurant are many ornaments, statues and celebrities – you guessed it – made out of condoms.

Tiger Woods

Santa Clause!

The idea being that condoms should be as easily accessible to all families as cabbages.

After our over-priced yet modest tasting meals – you cannot beat the fresh street food – we ended up walking down Soi Cowboy, a notorious red-light district in Bangkok.

Red lights

If neon lights, expensive beer and old men leering over young thai girls is your style, then this is the place to be.

After a few hours sleep we got up early to board our 7 hour bus ride to Siam Reap. Off we go to Cambodia!

Thailand – Koh Samui, Koh Tan & Koh Mudsom

21/02/13 – 24/02/13

Welcome to Samui

We arrived on Koh Samui around 11am. This is one of the largest islands in Thailand and there were vast amounts of tourists getting off our boat.

After failing to locate the cheap minibus to Lamui, we ended up using one of the pier staff to haggle us a deal with a local taxi, 300 Baht (£6) instead of the advertised 600 Baht. This turned out too good to be true…

Taxi Trouble

We jumped into the taxi believing we were on our way to the Sukasem Guest House. After 15 minutes we stopped at a hotel called Sixth Sense. We immediately realised that the driver had misheard the pier man, so Paul leant forward and explained the Sukasem/Sixth Sense mix up.

To say that the driver was a tad cross is an understatement. He blamed us for the mistake and cursed the whole way back to town while muttering 'you say Sixth Sense, you say Sixth Sense.' We did not and politely stood our ground, apologising for the misunderstanding.

We ended up back where we started. After throwing our bags on the street the driver demanded money for his wasted time and petrol. He turned quite nasty as we refused to pay.

After some shouting, finger pointing and even a bit of aggressive pushing he finally wheel span off. Considering he didn't speak English that well, he knew more bad language than we did! His parting words to Paul were 'never come back to Koh Samui'. Charming.

Taxi: Take 2

After this adventure, we walked down the road five metres and gave a nice taxi man 600 Baht to take us to Sukasem. We made sure it was the right place this time. When we arrived we checked in and lay on the beach for the rest of the day.

Meep meep

The next day we rented a moped for 200 Baht (£4), filled the fuel tank (£2.50) and drove 55km around the entire island. This was not our plan, but we got lost.

Parts of the island were beautifully quaint, but most of it was busy, especially the major cities! Driving through the streets was quite hair raising at times, especially when we saw a local Thai lady fall off her moped. The worst bit was she had a child in front of her. Luckily, they both seemed to get up with no injuries.

We decided to visit Na Mueang waterfall which is located behind Na Muang Safari Park. The park offers elephant trekking, animal shows and photo opportunities with chained tigers and monkeys. The set up felt extremely cruel and the locals seemed ambivulent towards the animal's welfare. Needless to say we didn't hang around long.

Wondrous Waterfall

Rather than pay for a 4-Wheel drive up to the waterfall, we opted to walk there instead. After a brief climb up a gravel road, a German couple told us to bear left rather than follow the main signs so as to bypass the Thai man sat at the entrance demanding 100 Baht.

After a brief stony climb we made it to the base of the waterfall and Paul had a swim.

Before walking back down we stopped to take some photos of the surrounding area. It was an overcast day but still very hot and muggy.

Local Lunch

We scooted off and had lunch in a small local market around the corner, where our pork Pad Thai was freshly made for £1 each.

They sold a huge array of fruits and vegetables here, including our newly discovered Longan (Lum Yai). We originally believed these to be small new potatoes due to their brown skin. Their flesh is translucent and they have a unique sweet taste that's somewhat similar to grapes, but more exotic! The 10p mangoes are delicious too, although they look very different to those back home.

Longan Fruit

Neck snapper

After a chicken sandwich with chips for tea, we needed a one night break from Thai cuisine, we thought we'd brave another massage. This time we selected an oil version – rather than a back breaking Thai massage. This was much nicer, although there was still the odd moment where they would pull a finger or two out of its socket with a loud click!

Paul was truly spoilt, his masseuse ended his massage with a neck wrench that made it click like a snapped ruler. She did both sides to round off a job well done…

Before leaving they gave us four baby bananas which they had grown in their garden, these are about 3-4 inches and are much sweeter than regular bananas. Breakie for the next day was sorted!

Castaway

The next day we decided to try and find some real island bliss so rented a moped again and drove 15 minutes to Thong Krut Pier. Here we asked a local restaurant owner how much it would cost to go to Koh Tan, a small uninhabited island known for its coral and marine life near the Samui coast.

We haggled down from 1400 Baht (£30) each, to 800 Baht (£16) each, which we were chuffed with!

So we had a four hour, private tour of two islands with beautiful snorkelling spots and long empty beaches. This was exaclty what we wanted!

Here's a video of Katie feeding the friendly fish some bread:

Sam Wise

The second island we visited was called Koh Mudsom and it was here that we met a single Thai wanderer. His name was Sam – apparently – and he was very friendly. His english was very good, although the opening of the conversation was funny:

Sam: Hello!

Paul: Hi!

Sam: My name is Sam.

Paul: I'm Paul.

Sam: It is a pleasure to meet you, Umpaul.

Classic.

We 'enjoyed' our packet pizza lunch on this tiny island before heading back to Samui mainland.

Mummified Monk

Back at Ko Samui we headed inland and paid a visit to the Kunaram Temple which holds Samui's most famous mummified monk, Loung Pordaeng.

When he died more than 20 years ago he was sitting in a meditation position. He is still in that same position today and his body shows few signs of any major decay. Interesting to note, when his eyes fell into his head, the monks at the temple fitted him with some sunglasses.

Monsoon moment

At this point the skies had turned incredibly black and it was clear that a storm was a brewin'. Just as the first few spots of rain began to hit we parked up and dashed into the nearest cafe for cover. The heavens opened and we watched as the storm lashed across the sea which had been perfectly still only moments before.

Party time

That's our penultimate island done. Our next stop is Koh Phangan, the destination for the biggest beach rave in the world, The Full Moon Party!

Stay tuned.

We found this amusing.

 

Thailand – Ko Yao Noi, Ao Nang, Railey & Ko Tao

13/02/13 – 20/02/13

Ko Yao Noi – Ahoy

Long-tail boats and speed boats make daily trips to Ko Yao Noi from Bang Rong Pier on the east coast of Phuket. Therefore we got up early to take an over-crowded songathaew to the pier.

Two monks got on board half way, so we all had to scoot up and allow them to sit up front. These religious men are forbidden to have any female contact whatsoever, even brushing past a lady is considered blasphemous.

The cost for the hour long journey was 50 Baht (£1) and we were taken directly to a waiting speedboat which cost 200 Baht each. After a short stop at Koh Yao Yai, we then crossed to Koh Yao Noi, which was only eight minutes away. A second songathaew then delivered us to the Tabeak View Bungalows.

A quiet paradise

Koh Yao Noi felt miles away from the hustle and bustle of Phuket. This island isn't on the typical backpacker's list and we were relieved that only ten other people joined us on our boat ride over. We've been told that this place is what the rest of Thailand was like fifteen years ago. Keen to explore and savour the experience, we booked a second night.

Toot toot

After a tasty lunch of Thai Omelette (egg omelette filled with chicken, tomato and carrot) we walked to the Pyramid Restaurant next door to hire a moped for the afternoon. This island is relatively small, but you definitely need a set of wheels to travel around.

The lady behind the counter said it was 200 Baht for half a day. She told us to take bike no. 621, where we'd find the keys in the ignition. 'Come back whenever and pay then' she shouted after us. No lesson, no helmet, no deposit and no mention of road etiquette.

Wobbly wheels

Katie sat behind Paul and after some fafing with the ignition we were off. Those first few minutes were 'absolutely terrifying' – Katie. Paul was forced to travel at 15kmph and take corners even slower. Locals scooted past and shopkeepers chuckled as we crawled by.

After fifteen minutes or so though we both found our confidence and enjoyed the sensation of exploring the island with the wind in our hair. The route to the beach was a very bumpy dirt road so Katie sensibly decided to walk the hairiest bits. After the hectic beaches of Phi Phi it was lovely having the sand to ourselves.

Seat fury

After spending a good twenty minutes or so trying to work out how to open our seat compartment – we had to go and find someone to help in the end – we headed back inland and enjoyed Thai Coconut curry for dinner, followed by a huge plate of fresh fruit.

Early Riser's

The next day we awoke at 6:30am to watch the sunrise. Katie ate her thai custard pain bread for breakfast, while Paul took a few snaps of the views from our bungalow.

We then hired the exact same moped again and spent the day exploring the other half of the island. There were some interesting items on sale in the small town market, including these rather uncomfy looking flip flops…

Ao Nang bound

After splashing out on a meal for Valentines Day the previous evening at a small beachside restaurant, we took the 9:30am ferry back to Krabi. From here it took two songathaew rides to get us to our next destination, Ao Nang.

As soon as we stepped foot on the busy pavement it was a case of 'spot the local'. Tourists were everywhere! We spent the day exploring the small town and dodging the heavy rain showers. Interesting to note were the statues of monkeys which held up each bus stop sign. We stayed at The Jinda Guesthouse, which was freshly painted – so fresh it still smelt of wet paint.

Rocky Railey

The next morning we took a longtail boat to Railay Beach. This place is renowned for its rock climbing, and we spent a while watching tourists attempt to climb the steep walls. We then headed to the beach to sunbathe on the white sands.

Ko Tao

From Ao Nang we headed to the first of our final three island destinations, Ko Tao. We awoke at 5:30am and jumped on a minibus to the local bus station, th driver was playing loud drum and bass as everyone tried to snatch some sleep.

From here we took a large and rather fancy double decker bus to Surat Thani harbour, where we 'enjoyed' a four hour ferry journey to Ko Tao. Not a great morning as Katie was once again feeling horrendously seasick.

Located on the east side of the Surat Thani coastline, Ko Tao actually means 'Turtle Island' in English, as the island prior to 1943 used to be inhabited by turtles. It is famous for its stunning coral reefs, abundant marine life and clear, warm water.

We took a 'taxi' – the back of a small flatbed truck – to Sairee Cottages which we had booked for four nights. Our bungalow was quaint and clean, and a bargain at £4 a night each. We were a two minute walk to Sairee beach which is the longest on the island and stretches 1.85km up the west coast. After a barbecue kebab with salad for tea we crashed.

Koh Nang Yuan

The next morning we met up three friends from home, Kerrie, Amanda and Val. They have been travelling Thailand for a month.

We took a small longboat to Koh Nang Yuan, said to be one of the most beautiful islands in the world.

It is actually made up of three small islands connected by a sand bar. The clear waters meant that this place was great for snorkelling, unfortunately though our cheapo snorkel didn't last long. Infact it lasted 23 seconds before Paul came spluttering to the surface cursing the tacky tourist trash. After 23 seconds the eye mask would have completely filled up and the snorkel flooded.

We had a hot sandwich – cheese and ham toastie – from the slowest bar in history for lunch, then climbed up to the hilltop viewpoint for a breathtaking view.

Back on Sairee Beach we had a beer and took some snaps while watching the sun go down.

After a tasty dinner and punchy cocktails, we each signed our names onto paper lantern, before lighting and watching it float off into the sky. All in all, a great day, with some great friends.

Freedom Beach

After a western breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs we said goodbye to the girls who were heading to Bangkok to fly to Australia.

We, meanwhile, went to hire a moped. It is fair to say that we didn't find the experience quite so enjoyable as we did before. The roads here were much more hilly and there was a great deal more traffic.

Our first stop was Freedom Beach, one of Ko Tao's most popular little beaches. This was meant to be a beautiful area to snorkel, but our leaky piece of plastic wasn't up to it. Grrrr.

After a swim we scooted off to the north side of the island to see the sunset over Koh Nang Yuan.

Try Dive

Ko Tao has a thriving diving industry and the next day we had a try dive booked with Sairee Cottage Divers. After a morning of theory which was supposed to reassure, we headed out, Katie more nervous than ever.

Firstly we practiced some of our newly acquired skills in shallow water. We learnt how to breathe (thank goodness), empty our eye masks and clear our respirators underwater. From here we headed out, closely following our Irish instructor Sarah.

Katie was very apprehensive, especially as we were warned about the nitrogen expanding in our bodies (causing bubbles on the skin) if you resurfaced too quickly. We also had to equalise every metre or so during our descent, like when you pop your ears on a flight.

The most important rule was to keep breathing at all times. Holding your breath as you change depth would result in your lungs expanding or contracting drastically due to the change of pressure.

Naturally, Katie floated along in constant fear that her lungs would explode at any given moment.

With all this in mind we started swimming. There were only four of us in our group which meant no waiting around. We reached a depth of 12 metres, and despite Katie accidentally floating all the way to the surface on one occasion – she pressed the wrong button – all went well.

We saw lots of fish and coral and our 40 minutes underwater went extremely quickly. Katie was relieved to re-surface without a popped eardrum or collapsed lung.

Next stop Ko Samui!