Its been slightly overdue but here is whats been happening since my last entry! Il probably forget half of the things ive done cos its been so long but here it goes, make sure your comfortable.
Went to Phnom penh in Cambodia, I thought that i had $200 AUs, a credit card and a $50 US travellers cheque stolen at the Vietnam-Cambodia border so the 1st part of this place i spent cancelling stuff and then wasted half of the next day looking for a police station that didnt exist. Luckily I didnt report it as 2 weeks later i stumbled accross the "stolen" items whilst trying to swat mosquitos with a copy of the evening times. So i didnt have anything stolen and i was glad to get the $200 back! shame about the cancelled credit card tho. Next stop in Cambodia was Siem Reap which is near loads of temples and a massive one (the biggest religous building in the world) Anghor Wat. spent a day going round the temples, did the big one last tho and my camera battery was low and lyndas ran out as soon as we got inside! still managed to take an excessive amount of photos tho. The Following day we got the 10 hr bus to bangkok. the bus to the thai border was a total joke with not enough legroom to sit normally in the seat, and not enough space in the bus for all the bags so they had to be piled high in the walkway! after an adventure we got back to Bangkok for a night spent on Khao San Road.
The 3rd of April, got a night bus to go to the islands in the south of thailand. the bus dropped us off at about 2.15am and we had to wait for the boat leaving at about 7am to get to Ko Tao. after a bit of trekking found a place to stay and this was our first proper taste of a beach paradise in Southern Thailand. It was mailnly good to stop for a few days as we had done 3 countries in 3 weeks before that, we chilled out on ko tao spending a while on the beach and doing a snorkeling trip around the island (which was good apart from a bit of sunburn!).
The next destination was Kho Pha-Ngan which we only planned to stay 1 night but treated ourselves to a nice hotel room which was really close to a long beach that had as many people as Nairn beach would have on it at this time of year! ended up staying 2 nights as it was so good. The following day was spent on a bus to the national park Kao Sok. stayed in a hut that was a lot better than expected for being so remote, although the bathroom was like being outside tho which was fun if you needed to go in the night! spent a day treking in which we a water snake, some other things and loads of lizards. Saw one lizard in particular that was massive, it was in the water just as we were about to go swimming! After some later research at the singapore zoo, i think ive found it was a Malayan Water Lizard. Lost in Thailand i think. After the national park, got another bus to Krabi and then on to Kho Phi Phi.
Arrived on the island of Kho Phi Phi kind of knowing what to expect but not entirely sure. It was in the guide books as extremely beautiful but full of tourists, and it was badly affected by the Tsunami. It was really touristy and the places to stay were really pricey compared to what we had been used to. The island itself was small and had loads of bars and restaurants and everything geared towards catering for the westerners. Saying this it was still a really nice island and we were there on Thai new year, April 13th. Their New Year celebrations were very different to ours, mainly involving soaking anyone you see in water and covering them in a paste made from water and talc. It was pretty mad but good to experience, as it was really hot there was worse things to be sprayed with than water. On the 13th we did a boat tour around another island and went to Maya Bay which is where they filmed "the beach". It was top notch scenery and we did a bit of kayaching and snorkeling as well.
Congratulations if you have made it this far without falling asleep, but there is still more to go....
14th April got the bus to Malaysia (as you do!) not as simple as it sounds, it took ages of waiting around and although we were meant to be at our destination Georgetown at 8pm, we got in about 11pm and with nowhere to stay! found a hotel and got some dinner around 12. Next day we got a night train to Kuala Lumpur, arrived about 6am and we were wanting to go to another national park Taman Negara which is a full days travel away from KL. Luckily we stumbled across a bus that was just leaving to go to the national park so we got straight on! Arrived about 5pm and slept well that night!
Anyway I have been typing for over an hour so time to go i think! I will update this in a wee while and let everyone know the last leg of the Asia diary. Tomorrow i fly out of singapore to Australia
Bye for now!
