Sydney

Day 23: city tours

Had a pretty awesome flight. No one was sitting on the 3 seats next to me so I had a flat bed in economy and slept the entire flight :)

Landed refreshed in Sydney and made it through immigration pretty swiftly! Got a shuttle bus to the hostel (Base), stored my bags and spent ages talking to the travel advisor there. He's been pretty helpful booking and sorting out the rest of the East coast for me. 

Went on a city tour with the hostel. It wasn't that informative but I got to wander around the city, have a free lunch in the park, and meet people which was basically what I was using it for. But it was much colder than I was expecting! Real wind chill factor :(

Sydney opera house

Harbour bridge 

One of the girls I met on the city tour decide to come with me to do an "I'm free" tour of the rocks. Couldn't find the meeting point for ages and everyone we stopped was an american tourist! Luckily we spotted a large group of people and the bright green top of our tour guide just in time before try set off. It was really cool as we were able to see all these little lane ways and places that you would never have found by yourself and find out loads about the history. We were told to turn left at the next alley and we walked straight past it. That's how small some of these entrances were!

Evening time over the bridge with our guide Russ

Had some 'food' (2 minute noodles) when we got back and used the free drinks vouchers I've been given in Scary canaries next door and then I crashed in bed to get over the jet lag. 

Day 24: whale watching and more city tours

Charlie, the girl I met on the tour yesterday and I went whale watching in the morning. We chose to go on the speed boat trip which was really cool. Once we were out of the harbour we picked up speed and flew over the waves! We saw a mummy humpback whale and her calf. Usually the whales are really playful splashing their tails but the weather had been bad recently so they were using the calm day as a chance to feed the baby. Not that most people in our boat thought it was a calm day! Because we were such a small boat we were tossed with every wave and I think half the boat ended up with a sickbag or leaning over the edge! Luckily I had been warned so had taken anti-sickness tablets in the morning and so felt fine :)

In the afternoon we went for the daytime I'm free tour. The meeting point was much easier to find! We wandered all around Sydney hearing about the history and seeing some really cool spots. We both really fancied some proper English tea so sat by the harbour drinking out tea, eating out muffins and watching a cruise ship leaving the harbour. It was pulled out by a tiny little tug boat. How it managed to pull the massive ship I'll never understand. 

Red Christmas cups are here too!

As it was getting late, we walked up to observatory hill and were able to watch the sunset over the western suburbs of Sydney which was pretty beautiful! 

Sunset

In the evening we headed down to Side Bar to watch a live band play. It was pretty cool. They were playing some great tunes but when they stopped and the music came on it was so loud. You couldn't have a conversation without saying "what" about 100 times. I sound so old moaning about the loud noise.... 

Live band

Day 25: beaches

Today we got the bus to Coogee beach and walked the east coast coastal path to Bronte beach. I tried to go into the sea but the waves were bigger than I expexted so was knocked over completely! Decided to admit defet an spent te rest of the morning reading on the beach. 

We were meant to be meeting the tour from the hostel for luch but we didnt see them arrive so all we had when we got there was a sauage and some ketchup, and no bun :( The people who worked in the hostel then took us the rest of the way along the costal path to Bondi beach. Along the path there were lots of sculptures as its currently 'sculptures by the sea'. There was a really cool one that was a large sphere and in it you could see the view out over the bay but upside down. I'm sure if I thought about the physics and optics I could figure out how it worked but I didn't and I just thought it looked cool! 

Bondi beach

In the evening we went up to the Sky tower. I've now seen the night skyline in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpar, Singapore and Sudney. Unfortunately we missed the sunset as we didn't realise we had to see the 4D film before we went in. The 360 views of the skyline light up at night were amazing. 

Night skyline

Had an evening off and just chilled in bed booking buses and figuring out which hostels I still need to book before my early start the next day....

Day 26: Syndey harbour bridge climb

Got up super early and so was able to chat to mum and dad and then Catherine on the walk to the Bridge climb. 

When I got there there was lots to do to get ready... Had to sign consent forms, remove all loose items, inteoduce ourselves to everyone, get changed into the jump suit, get everything loose attached onto the suit and get harnessed and radio-ed up. We then had a practice set of ladders to climb up and down to get use to how the safety slider worked and to get a feel of what it was going to be like. 

Then the climb began... It was amazing!! We started out climbing inside the bridge and then had about 4 stories of really steep stairs to climb up and then we were on top of the main arch. It was only slightly windy and that was enough for me. They were climbing in 120mph gusts the other day :s

The view from the top over Sydney was stunning!! Couldn't quite believe I was up there, felt like a bit of a dream! 

Even once we had climbed down the other side, taken off all the gear and got the photos I still couldn't believe it. Ended up going to sit Observatory Hill having lunch looking back to the bridge to get into my head what I'd done. That allowed the adrenalin shakes I had in my legs to stop! (The shaky knees weren't fun on the ladder back down. It was so steep but at least it felt much safer than all the ones in Thailand - I was clipped on and there was a hand rail on both sides to hold!) 

"I climbed that!!!"

Visited the observatory whilst I was there, decided I couldn't really not. It was a pretty small museum and the planetarium show was good (I was the only person in there) to find out where the constellations, the Milky Way and the magalanic clouds were but he kept giving me some really basic info about space. Didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd studied physics so knew this stuff! 

Had a free ticket to the Bridge museum as I had done the climb so we up there and had a look at how the bridge was built. 

Wandered around the harbour for a bit then headed into the Botanical gardens. Didn't explore them much but instead just sat over looking the harbour and the opera house reading the Australian equivalent of the metro!

Came back and then Charlie and a couple of guys from her room who I'd met on the Bondi walked went to the Rocks night bizarre. It was really cool, full of these little stands, quirky shows and a silent disco. Went into possibly the coolest bar I will ever go to. It was a pop up bar and you had to wear a bird mask to get in and once inside it was like a house party. Downstairs was the dance floor and a dj and upstairs there was a chill out room with bean bags. And the whole place was white and covered in carpet. I loved it! 

Stopped at another pub on the way back that was showing chariot racing on one screen and the other was showing computerised dog and horse racing! So random!

Day 27: manly beach 

Had a lazy morning and then got the ferry across to Manly Beach. Went for a swim in the swim zone thats policed by lifeguards, slightly outside the flags and you get whistled backed by them. The waves were huge and great fun to dive under. 

Christmas Australia Style

Chilled out on the beach all day with some sushi, a book and then a delicious caramel crunch and vanilla chip ice cream with sprinkles! Decided to spoil myself with that! 

Lifeguard

Had a quick Macy D's for dinner (at least it wasn't noodles) then headed to a bar, then to the fireworks show. It was strange as these were my 5th November fireworks and it was warm. 

Sydney fireworks

Spent the rest of the evening with Matt and Charlie at Scary Canaries (as seen on Geordie Shores apparently). Saying goodbye to Charlie was weird. It's crazy to think how much  you'll miss someone and how much they'll miss you even though you've only known them 4 days! 

Day 28: blue mountains

Got picked up super early so I think I managed to leave without waking up people. Not that I should have been quiet, the two groups in my room decided to have an argument in the small hours of the morning. No clue what it was about. I just pushed my ear plugs in further and went back to sleep. 

Drove up into the blue mountains and had a quick stop in a little cafe for a coffee. Strange to see how far Sydney actually spreads out compared to the tourist area. And got to see the Olympic Park. 

Went to a lovely view point and then went for a walk in to a waterfall. It was raining (of course!). Really think the rain is attracted to me when I'm out walking. We weren't able to actually see the blue mountains and ranges like you image but we did get to see it with cloud coming up the valley which is actually pretty cool. Our guide got us to sit by a smaller waterfall, close our eyes and just listen. He then tapped us and we walked back a way before we were aloud to talk again. It was so peaceful and your ear turned in to all these different sounds in the jungle. Could here a frog croaking. 

View point (a photo of my camera which is why it's blurry) 

Had lunch then we went for another walk down a bit into one of the valleys. Obviously all the other people had only converses on and no rain jacket and I in my waterproof and hiking boots was the one who slipped on a wet knee and crashed down some metal steps. Took most of the impact in my hand an I thought I was okay but I wasn't. Just started crying! The guide was really good a looking after me but no one else in the group asked if I was okay! Felt so lonely at that point. Just wanted a hug from someone I knew as I was in shock but there was no one :( don't remember much of the walk as I was just thinking about my wrist. 

We got the senic railway cart up which had different modes of sitting positions and we obviously went for "cliffhanger" which basically meant you were staring staring down the valley and had to hold on to stop yourself moving forwards. 

Thought I was doing better but the guide got first aid for me at the centre and as soon as the first aided (called Happy!) asked what happened I broke down again. Luckily having someone look after me made me feel so much better and he bandaged my wrist up as a precaution to stop any swelling. Think it may have been a bit of overkill but it was good to have someone look after me. 

My wrist! 

The guide chatted to me the whole way back and we played each other music we liked and just chatted :) think he was trying to keep my mind off my wrist. By the time we got back to Base although it was a big sore it was fine and I was no longer in shock so not crying. 

Just hanging around in the hostel now. Showered and eaten but still need to pack as I'm getting the overnight bus (fun times) to Byron Bay in 4 hours. 

 

Will let you all know how the surf lessons in Byron Bay go next weekend. Hopefully will stand up :) 

Malaysia and Singapore

Day 14 - Malaysian part of it

Boarder crossing

We were instantly pulled over by the police as soon as we crossed the boarder! They were asking us where we were going and we all just said Malaysia! Well obviously! Such a clever bunch we are! And then further down the road we were stopped for a second time but we kept our mouths shut so we didn't seem like idiots again!

Drive through the Malaysian countryside for hour. Couldn't fall asleep so I ended up reading an entire book from start to finish. Pretty impressive!

We crossed over the bridge to the Island Penang which, even though I had never heard of it before, was on the "yahoo top 10 islands to visit before you die" list. Can tick it off now! 

Food prices in Malaysia are noticeabley higher! I had to pay a whole £1.50 for dinner rather than £1! I know it's not a lot but I was converting into Thai Baht (not pound!) and was shocked at how pricey the food court was compared to the others I've been too! 

Had a nice little walk in the evening to Little India. Kept having to ask for directions as we were told "not far down that road" and a while later and having seen 10 prositutes we weren't sure we were right! Little Indian was very colourful though when we finally made it. 

Bought some drinks on the way home and had a lovely evening chatting and drinking in our room. I was on the real hard stuff... While everyone else had a tiger beer I had fizzy strawberry juice! 

Day 15 - Penang/ travelling to Cameroon Highlands 

Had a wirl wind tour of the city visiting a temple, botanic gardens batik painting work shop, town hall, a jetty and little Indian! All before lunch! 

The temple was dedicated to the Buddhist version of the Virgin Mary. In the botanic gardens there were monkeys and lizards that roamed free. The lizards weren't scary but those monkeys ran towards you screaming which was pretty scary! 

Temple 

Monkeys groaning 

Lunch in a local Indian cafe

After lunch we set off on the windy road to the Cameroon highlands. Here there are loads of tea plantations :)

Had an awesome dinner but it was the most expensive one I've had in ages. A whole £3 and we had to cook it ourselves. It's called a steamboat and you basically get given a massive pot of clear chicken soup on a gas stove on your table. Then we were given 22 different things to boil in it to eat. This included the standard leafy veg, chicken, beef and noodles and the slightly more unusual jelly fish! Compliments to the chef that night as mine was stunning! 

Steam boat. 

Day 16 - Cameroon highlands 

Had a morning tour around the highlands. We walked up to the observation tower at the highest point on the highlands. Obviously it was really cloudy and all you could see was white until we got the the bottom of the tour when the clouds cleared. Typical! 

Then we went for a jungle walk. It said trek on the brochure which I was super excited about, but it turned out to be a decked path that we followed! Not quite my idea of a trek. 

We then visited a tea plantation and were able to see a tea factory. None of the equipment was working as there was a power cut but the smell inside was amazing. 

Tea plantation 

Got I have the best cup of tea I've had in a while over looking the field the leaves grew in :) 

Tea!!!!!!

Didn't get up to much in the afternoon. We were all pretty grumpy by the time we had lunch at 3pm. Its so funny how the mood of a group change once they have food in their bellies. Just mooched around the town for the afternoon. Walked around but there wasn't that much to see. 

Day 17 - Kuala Lumpur 

Travelled all morning to get from the highlands to KL. The roads were very windy which isn't fun when you're squashed in the back corner seat of the bus which no air con on you! I was so glad to get out of that bus at the first service station. Could have been a real problem otherwise! 

Had a City tour once we got to KL. Being in a large group and having a car to drive you around definitely makes seeing everything far easier and quicker. You don't have to figure out the bus or the metro system and you never have to wait once you're done somewhere. You just get whisked off to the next place.  

Saw so much on our tour; the palace, the national monument, the national mosque, a scale model of the city at the city information centre and the Batu caves. The only problem with doing a tour like this is that you are never quiet able to join up all the places and how things relate to each other in the same way if you were walking. 

Changing of the guards at the palace 

Wearing modesty robes at the national mosque. 

The caves we pretty cool as they had lots of Hindu images and carvings there. And the temple was at the top of approximately 300 steps which were guarded by some rather grumpy monkeys!  

Batu caves. 

We were dropped at the Petronius towers and so we all got the tourist photo holding them apart and then had some dinner in the food court (where all the best meals come from) whilst it got dark. The towers are lit up at night and you can see there glow around the city! 

Petronius towers 

Was feeling a bit worn out so whilst some people went out I chilled in bed with my Kindle and some chocolate and had an early night. 

Day 18 - Kuala Lumpur 

We had a free day so some of us decided to walk (in the heat) to one of the squares. Turned out to be a patch of grass that we had seen the day before! 

We walked back to the hotel in a giant loop and then on the Times Square and the largest shopping centre in the world. So much nicer walking through KL than Bangkok! It's a much nicer capital city, even if crossing the road is still terrifying as red lights don't seem to mean anything to these drivers. 

Tried to get a new dress but all the shops wouldn't let you try anything on which seems a bit silly and left me rather grumpy! 

The shopping centre was so big it even had a indoor theme park. Went on the rollercoster twice before a tradition Malaysian MacDonalds lunch. Niklas managed to get stuck in the seat of one fof the rides and the ride operators had to call for back up to get him out!

Stuck!

Don't think we left it quite enough time before going on the rides post as I ended up feeling very unwell. Went completely white so rather than going to Chinatown shopping I had a lovely nap in the hotel! 

Was able to visit china town for some dinner before Skybar. 

Skybar

There were some amazing views from the skybar but the drinks were so expensive. Paid £8 for mine! It was like being back in the UK! Raved up the dance floor there then hit the KL strip where we found a bar with free cocktails for the ladies! Obviously we spent the night there dancing on the dance floor by ourselves! 

Had the most disappointing KFC (8 wedges counted ad large apparently) on the way home and finally got to sleep around 430. The problem of having a room mate your really get on with is that you just carry on talking for ages and wake up shattered! 

Day 19 - travelling and Melaka 

Luckily we didn't have to meet until 11 today. Our tour guide gave us all a chance to relax and lie in which was much appreciated. 

Spent a lot of the day travelling. Got a bus to the bus terminal, then after lunch (which was only an hour after breakfast!) we took a bus to Melaka. The bus was one of the comfiest buses I've ever seen. The seats were comfortable and there was plenty of leg room and I got to have a little nap :) 

Got our 3rd bus of the day to the hotel. We've obviously been spoilt travelling in private minivans so far so I had forgotten how getting somewhere takes a whole day by the time you wait for the changes, even if direct it would only take 2 hours. Arrived at our hotel at 5pm, 6 hours after we had set off. 

Went for a lovely trikshaw ride around the city to see the sites. There were massive speakers so it was rather strange being ridden around a world Hertitage town listening to pop music!

Traveling in style!

For dinner we ended up spending 3 hours trapped in a restaurant with a leaking ceiling whilst outside the biggest and longest lightning and thunder storm I've ever seen took place. Every time the whole room was lit up and then the boom went straight through you! 

Day 20 - Singapore

We were up early to catch an early bus to Singapore. Nearly lost one of our group as he thought he was under the import limit but turned out had the equivalent of 1 cigarette too many and so was whisk away. He was very lucky as it was his first offence and so only got a warning and a $12 fine. Waiting around meant that we missed our bus so had to hang around for the next one. 

For a lot of the people today was the only day they were having in Singapore so we had a whistle stop walking tour, a quick change into dresses for a Singapore Sling in Raffles, another change for the night Safari and then another change back into dresses to go to Marina Bay Sands hotel. 

Slings

The night Safari was really cool seeing lions, tigers, bears, elephants, giraffes, rhino and a host of other animals. It was set in Singapore rainforest and you were able to see all the animals lit my lights that mimicked moonlight. No pictures though as all the ones I took just look black!

The marina sands club was really cool and we were so lucky that our running paid off and we were able to get the last MRT there. But we did get off at a stop too late so had a lovely 20 walk back! The club had a great view over the whole of Singapore!

Came home and had to say bye to the group which was really sad :(

Day 21 - Singapore

The three of us, Valerie, Matt and I had an explore of the city today. We looked around Little Indian and Fort Canning and basically just wandered until we had to dash into a cafe as the heavens opened up on us. 

The sun and humidity came back with a vengeance so to cool down we headed into a shopping centre. Got a few bits and some new tops to replace the rather off coloured (but brand new when I arrived) one I had. 

Chilled out in the tiny pool before Matt left and then Valerie and I got dressed back up to go to the Skybar at marina bay sands again. 

Amazing night and we were able to see the light show from the top of the building with our free drinks :) not quite sure how we blagged to free drinks each but I guess getting there early and well dressed helps! I think the first guy had forgotten our bill so when we called him back he just waived us away! Amazing :) made it taste so much better! 

Final night

Day 22 - Sinagapore

Valerie left this morning and so I had a free day to myself. Spent the morning hair dryer-ing all the clothes that I washed that hadn't dried yet and packing for the flight. 

Left the luggage with the hotel and visited the 'Gardens in the Bay'. Absolutely stunning gardens, flower domes, cloud forest domes and aeriel walkway. The whole place is Eco friendly and produces or collects all the energy and water from the park itself. 

There are huge futuristic looking trees that collect sunlight and all the domes help collecting and cooling the water. Inside the cloud forest dome there was a huge 30m waterfall that came as a bit of a shock! 

Bio trees

Waterfall

Flowers

Having wandered the park the clouds turned a shade of black I recognise all too well so I took that sign to head back to the hotel. 

Threatening clouds 

And I was right. When I came up out of the MRT it was chucking it down so I weathered it out in the food court with some lunch as I couldn't cross the road to the hotel because of the rain. It was raining so much some of the drain lids were spouting water out and rattling away. 

Got to the airport over 5 hours before my flight took off to miss carrying my bag on public transport in rush hour. Changi is meant to be the best airport in the world! It seems pretty nice but 5 hours is a long time to spend somewhere....

Off to Australia. Let's see what happens next.... :) 

Southern Thailand

Day 8

The last night in Chiang Mai we went to the Sunday market and then to Zoe bar. Saw a guy blowing glass ornaments on the side of the road! At Zoe bar, the dance floor was pretty dead but our crazy dancing brought everyone to the floor! 

Day 9

We had our flight back to Bangkok where the group started going their separate ways. Even though its only been 8 days with these people I've grown really attached to them. Pretty sad. And we all instantly got stressed. Something about the air in Bangkok just puts everyone on edge. 

In the evening we visited the sky bar which is in hangover 2. Really expensive drinks as they're popularity has exploded since they film but we just dressed up and admired the view. 

View over Bangkok at night at the sky bar 

We went to another bar for a show where we nearly got locked inside. They decided to change the price of the drinks and charge us for drinks we hadn't drunk and basically rip us off. Luckily we had Pongs number who told them (in Thai) he was the tourist police. Think that scared them otherwise we would have had to pay £20 each for a beer just to stop these Thai ladies shouting at us! Tried to tell the police what they had done when we got outside and they couldn't have cared less. There advice was to walk 30mins to the station and pay to make a report! And when the manager came out to apologise and I'm pretty sure the police was mates with him. So corrupt! 

Glad to be leaving Bangkok tomorrow. It's just too stressful. Relax on the beaches is what's needed! 

Day 9

Final day in Bangkok, phew! Went with some people from the last tour and some of Pong's new group to the floating markets (where the picture on the lonely planet was taken). To start with it was pretty crazy but when we were paddled on a boat around to quieter canals it was so relaxing. 

Floating markets

When we got back to Bangkok (after a lovey nap in the minibus) we went for a leisurely lunch and chill out by the pool before our overnight train south.  

The train was pretty fun (there was a party carriage!) and I actually managed to have some sleep in my little pod. 

Sleeper train

Day 10/ 11 Koh Pahngag

We made it to the ferry port with 10 minutes to spare and had a lovely smooth crossing and then an off road car ride to the hotel. Loved the free massage we got with it. 

Our hotel was idyllic.  Set if a private beach with hammocks and sun loungers. Spent the whole day and the next reading, swimming in the sea and playing with the frisbee I bought! 

On the second day we climbed up the hill to the view point. Doing the hour up made me so glad our trek was in the rain!  I was sweating buckets by the time we reached the top but the view was amazing. Even if there was a really scary scramble to get there (which I may or may not have had a little cry about)! 

In the evening the owners of the hotel lit is a bonfire and we had a fire poi show. I sat next to he bonfire and saw 3 shooting stars over head. 

Only sad thing was that my camera decided to give up on me. No amount of charging the battery seemed to rescue it. I'm going to have to bye a new one in Singapore duty free and send my old one home with mum since its still under garentee. I was so upset when I couldn't turn it on but it taught me a real lesson about what's actually valuable and considering I've got ages to go it wa probably a good idea to learn to deal with losing/breaking things early on! 

Day 12 Koh Samui 

Had a lovely morning (before the the torretial rain) playing frisbee on the sea and then we headed to the ferry port to go to Koh Samui. Whilst in the jeep to the port It rained so had and i got drenched and I got a real arm work out holding on for dear life with one arm and holding the plastic window down with the other so I didn't get soaked! 

Our hotel was near the main public beach an 'las Vegas' style strip. Had a lovely time on the beach and then we headed home for our swim in the roof top pool!!!! I bought a pair of 'genuine' Ray Bans for £3 after my fat backside broken my old pair in two! Oops! I'm not sure how real they are though! Lol. 

On the evenings we headed to the ark bar on the beach for dinner, drinks and then to party! There were fireworks, fire poi and fore limbo! Basically anything involving fire was there. My old group joined us at the party and it was horrible saying goodbye.

Party glasses. 

Day 13 

Had an early start as 3 of us had booked to go snorkling. The weather closed in on us the further out to sea the speed boat took us and so by the time it came to jump into the water we were already soaked through! 

Saw some colourful fishes, some lovely bays and went for a steep walk to the emerald lake. The steps in Thailand are crazy. They all seem to be perpendicular to the ground, which is fine to walk up but I have a real fear of getting down after. Had to grip the railings until my knuckles where white to get myself down. The view was worth it though! 

Emerald lake

We joined up with the rest of the group at the port to head back to the mainland. We stayed at a sleepy town called Nakhorn Si Thanarat ready for our earlier start (and after partying on the beach until late I needed the rest). 

Day 14 - Thai part of it

Definitely was tired last night. I feel asleep pretty much as soon as I hit the bed and didn't even notice that all the lights in the room were on or notice when my room mate, Valerie, returned. Valerie is so lovely and we never seem to shut up around each other! She is a Swiss mix of Ronja and Maddie so it feels like some of the frisbee girls are here with me! 

Driving through the town in the morning it really reminded me of Tanga in Tanzinia. The signs were in Thai rather than Swahili but everything about it just seemed so familiar.

Read an entire book on the way to th boarder and then we went through immigration into Malaysia as the rain started hammering down on the minivan. A theme seems to be developing! Turns out it rains quite a lot when it's rainy season!! 

Bangkok, Chiang Mai and northern hill tribe trek

Managed to get some sleep on the second flight which was great :) meant I only needed an hour nap when I got here to function. Other than that the flight was pretty boring as per usual!

Day 1 - Bangkok

Forgot to get a map at the airport which  was a bit of an issue but made it out the airport and to my transfer all fine. 

When I arrive at Bangkok Centre Hotel I couldn't get into my room so headed across (via some nervous navigating) the road to the main station to get a map, some water and people watch for a bit. 

When I came back I was able to get in but had the awful " how much do I tip the porter" moment. Had a little nap just to reboot  and then headed out for my first adventure.

Went to see the golden Buddha at Wat Traimit

and then headed down near China town (not sure if I was actually in it or not!) where there were loads of streets stalls selling foods and pretty much anything else you could ever need. 

I stopped for lunch at the end of the road where I chatted to an American for I bit (I can make friends) before aiming back for the hotel. 

On the way back I passed a massage place where I was able to get an hours foot massage (hardly laughed or winced when it turned a bit 'Thai massage') and use their Internet for £4. Bargin. And my feet felt great! 

Day 2 - Bangkok 

Second day alone and I decided to brave a tuk tuk. It tuk (hehehe) a bit of getting used to but I think I perfected the holding on and looking cool whilst flying around corners!

Visited 2 temples, Wat Po where the (very huge) reclining Buddha is and Wat Arum (the temple of dawn), and the grand palace.

Steep steps at Wat Arum

The steps up to the top of Wat Arum were so steep! I was so proud of myself when I climbed all the way up to admire the view and back down (although I was clinging onto the rope for dear life). I hope you're proud of me Will! 

I had to rent a shirt at the grand palace as I wasn't appropriately dressed and using a scarf to cover up apparently didn't count. I think they were only targeting tourists as locals were far more indecent than I was at the start but still were aloud in! Not fair. They also have two prices for everything, water etc, one for the locals and one for tourists. 

I took a boat down the canals of the river and saw the wonders of the Thai lock system - it was actually pretty exciting! My driver was far more safety consious than all the others (not a bad thing really) as I had to wear a sexy life jacket throughout. 

Met my tour group in the evening where we hit the tourist strip but we never made it to an infamous ping pong show. 

Day 3 - Bangkok to Chiang Mai

I decided to join the group tour today and so was able to get on a free(!) public bus. Didn't feel brave enough trying it by myself. Unfortunately one of the group was feeling a bit worse for wear so ending up vomming everywhere. The reaction was so different from that in the UK. Everyone was offering local tubs of green smelling stuff to help. You'd never get people reacting that nicely in the UK.  

Everyone went for a wonder around Wat Pho but I just sat next to the fan in the entrance catching up on my diary. CH you'll be pleased to know I'm perfecting the art of fan and shade hopping! 

Got another boat tour around the canals and I was definitely ripped off yesterday. I paid 700bht less for everything today compare to what I paid for just the boat ride yesterday. 

I think Pong, out guide, was on a mission to put us on every type of public transport as we got a boat and the sky train to lunch, then the Subway home. 

Chilled out by the poolside in the evening before our flight Chiang Mai. Once we were there we hit the busy night market. Chiang Mai is far less busy, less smelly and generally a much nicer place than Bangkok. 

Day 4 Chiang Mai

Today was a busy jam packed day. We took Song Tau (You say that like you're angry and that's how you say it. Even if I spelt it wrong.) to Tiger Kingdom. I got to stoke lots of cute tigers. It was really scary to begin with and one rolled over as I was stroking it and slapped me in the face with his tail which scared me but it turned out he just wanted his belly rubbed! 

My and my new friend 

In the afternoon we visited a beautiful temple and we able to read our fortunes Thai Buddhism style. You shack a container that has bamboo sticks with numbers on it. Whatever stick falls out first that number corresponds to your fortune. I got a nice one about being lucky but Flo got one saying no one likes her. Luckily you're allowed to do it again to change your fortune. 

The Sunday night (the time I was born) Buddha

In the evening some of us went to a Thai cooking course. It was amazing, I never knew I was such a good cook! Some of it was very spicy when we tried her dishes, I made mine much milder. If anyone ever wants spring rolls, green curry, pad Thai or steamed banana cakes I can sort you out! 

In the evening we went to the market (small fortune has gone) and then to the ladyboy cabaret show!

Day 5-7 - Hill Tribe Trek

Having checked in with the tourist police we walked to a beautiful waterfall and swam underneath it in the freezing waters!

The trek was not a hard walk but it rained all day so the path was very slippy. All. Will's help paid off again as everyone said I looked like I knew what I was doing and asked my advice as to where they should put their feet. Unfortunately there were lots of leaches and 3 managed to get in one shoe and 2 in the other! Disgusting! And they have a really strong bit so you can't flick them off. I must taste really good or my fortune was wrong because no one else got them! 

One the first night we stayed in one village where they fed us green curry and spring rolls. No where near as good as mine!

It rained all night. And carried on raining the entire day. And not just drizzling.. Proper raining. Imagine being fully dressed including hiking boots and swimming in a pool for about an hour and you'll get a hint as to how wet we were! 

We walked for 3 and a half hours, much  quicker than all of out guides previous groups, to the elephant sanctuary. I guess we all just wanted to get there and get dry so walked super quick! It's much better here than the sanctuary as they're in the jungle where they belong rather than a sanctuary near a city. So cool being on its back swaying side to side as she walked. The other elephant was so cheeky and put his trunk into a field and pulled out a whole corn plant! 

Nelly the elephant

It was so good to put clean clothes on in the village when we got there! Played some great games in the evening. The group was such a great group to trek with! 

Kettle soot on our faces from the games we were playing! 

The second day we went bamboo rafting. I think ours was half raft half submarine. I don't think the water was lower than my knees at any point and we kept steering into trees and the river bank. Great fun though! 

Rafting 

Day 8 - Chiang Mai

On the final day I just explored the city on foot. Visiting all the temples and stuff. Even saw on open air concert. Who ever he was the old women were goin crazy for him! 

Tomorrow morning we fly back to Bangkok where the 2nd half on my adventure in South East Asia begins! 

Airport (so this didn't post the first time...)

Woke up this morning and the excitement for this trip hit me. Managed to have a stress free time getting to the airport and only a few tears where shed when I left everyone. 

I'm going to miss you all so much. I promise to try my best to keep this up to date (and hopefully slightly interesting too) so you can see what I'm up too. 

Me and my backpack/life for the next 8 months! 

The back pack

So my bag is finally packed! Cannot believe it actually closed! Taking far less stuff than I originally intended too!

I put out everything on the bed like all the packing guides tell you to and it looked like hardly anything. Then I tried to fit it all in the backpack. Was not going to work! No amount of sitting on the bag or turning it to a different angle to 'let gravity do the work' was ever going to get that closed. 

Will went through everything and cut it right down. Apart from my medicine bag... He was going no where near that. I guess the tough love, considering I'll be carrying it for the next 9 months, was far better than mums "well you may need it". 

A few pieces did sneak back in after he left though! But shhh don't let him know that! I don't want to have to admit defeat when he was right and it wasn't really needed!