James takes on the world!

We crossed the border between Vietnam and Cambodia on our way to Phnom Penh, the capital city, where we stopped over for one night. We took a trip out of the city to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. This is one of the many sites where at least 200,000 people were executed by the Khmer Rouge under the Poll Pot’s regime during 1975-1979. It was a chilling experience to walk around the sites of the now excavated mass graves where Men, Woman and Children of all ages were beaten to death. Especially horrifying was seeing the scarred marks of children where they were smashed to death against the trunks of the trees.

The museum at the site describes how the total number of deaths resulting from Khmer Rouge policies, including disease and starvation, is between 1.4 to 2.2 million out of a population of only 7 million. It was a depressing visit but we were glad that we saw the site as it help us to realise some of the horrible things that have happened in Cambodia over the years.

We left Phnom Penh early the following morning on our way to Siem Reap which is the gateway city to the ancient temples of Angkor. We checked into a nice hotel with a swimming pool as it was to be our last stop before heading home.

Angkor is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is often described as the Eighth Wonder of the World. Its purpose was for the empire of the Khmers during the ninth century to the thirteenth century. They had a population of around 1 Million at a time when London was a mere 50,000 during the ninth century to the thirteenth century and was spread across 1000 kilometers. The temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world’s largest single religious monument.

We spent 3 days visiting a large number of the temples on a Remork (Tuk-Tuk). Our particular favorites were The Bayon, Bakong, Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Preah Kahn. We were mesmerized with the crumbling ruins scattered with Strangler Figs and intricate carvings depicting images of the Buddhist gods. On our second day we got up at 04:30am to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat which was a great experience and another sight that I will remember for a long time.

It was then time to head home. I had been away for just over 5 months and I felt like I had pretty much done all of South East Asia. I had seen so much on my travels that I found myself starting to not appreciate everything that I saw quite and this, along with running low on money, made me decide that it was time to head home. Gisella was booked to fly home from Bangkok and I was to fly from Kuala Lumpur.

I arrived at the dark and miserable Stansted Airport at 4am where I met Kym (my Sister) who drove me back home. I hadn’t told my Mum that I was coming back so you can imagine how shocked she was to see me at 7am in the morning when she wasn’t expecting me for another month. Since I have been back I have been really busy so I haven’t had time to reflect on the trip but I know it is something that I will never forget and I loved every minute. The traveling bug, which has symptoms that include the desperate need to return to traveling very soon, is already kicking in.

We arrived amidst the craziness that is Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam just as a torrential downpour began. We were immediately shocked by the number of mopeds filling the street and pavements. Every time we crossed the road we felt as though we were taking our lives into our own hands. We spent two days amongst the hustle and bustle visiting the Hao Lo Prison, Ho Chi Minh Museum and the Ngoc Son Temple.

After these manic couple of days we were glad to move on to the stunningly tranquil setting of Halong Bay which consists of thousands of Jurassic looking  limestone islands in the middle of a turquoise bay. Due to it being Gisella’s Birthday when we were on the boat we decided to do one of the more fancy cruises for 3 days and 2 night. We definitely did not regret our decision.

The Bhaya Classic was an oriental Junk boat which consisted of four floors housing a Spa, Restaurant, Bar and Sundeck. Our cabin had a beautiful en suite as well as our own private balcony which gave us great views of the islands as we sailed through the bay. We arrived on the boat to a shower of rose petals and a cocktail. The food during the cruise consisted of 5 course fillet steak dinners, buffet lunches of crab, prawns, salads, curries and numerous other dishes and breakfast of whatever you might fancy.

During the trip we went kayaking, visited caves, beaches and a floating fishing village, went fishing, took a cooking course and jumped from each of the four decks for a swim in the warm water. Gisella had a facial on her birthday and after dinner, at my request, the staff brought out a beautiful cake, a big bunch of flowers and a cocktail for each of us while the other guests sang Happy Birthday. We had such a nice relaxing time on board and we could have quite happily stayed for another couple of days.

We returned to Hanoi before taking a 16 hour sleeper train to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Huế in central Vietnam. We spent a day exploring the various nearby temples as well as the Citadel which occupies a large, walled area which contained a forbidden city and was home to Nguyễn emperors.

After leaving Huế we headed further south to the beautiful historic town of Hội An which once possessed the largest harbour in Southeast Asia during the first century. The ancient architecture in the town consists of Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese influences. At night the town becomes a traffic free zone and the ancient buildings are lit up with bright red Chinese lanterns. As well as many beautiful old restaurants and hotels the town is home to over 400 tailors and shoe makers who will custom make any item of clothing or shoes that you could imagine. Gisella had a very fashionable Playsuit made and I decided that I would like to have a suit made. After searching on the Ted Baker website I got one of the tailors to make me a fitted replica of a suit I found, at a fraction of the price. When I picked up the suit it was identical to the image I had given them and it fitted perfectly (this was especially amazing due to the fact it only took them 6 hours). During one afternoon Gisella and I did a cooking class where we were taught how to make Spring Rolls with hand made Rice Paper, Vietnamese Pancakes, Eggplant in a Claypot and various fancy plate decorations made from Cucumber and Tomatoes.

It was very hard to leave Hội An behind but we moved south again to another town called Nha Trang. One of the biggest surprises for us about Vietnam was just how many beautiful beaches there are. Neither of us knew or even considered that there would be even one nice beach. We spent one full day relaxing on the beach and enjoying the nightlife before moving on to another beach side town called Mui Ne. During our two day stay we took a Jeep to some incredible sand dunes and a “Fairy Stream”. Trekking across the beautiful white sand hills made us feel as though we had been picked up and dropped off in the Sahara Desert. Whilst we were there we hired some toboggans and went racing down the sandy slopes, however, the trek in the 40°c heat back to the top made me realise that this was not a sport that would be catching on anytime soon.

From Nha Trang we took a bus to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) which was to be our final destination in the South of Vietnam. The thousands of mopeds quickly reminded us of Hanoi except that there were even more. I can understand why everybody in the city seems to have a motorbike due to the fact that as a pedestrian you are in a constant battle to prevent yourself from being run over, either on the pavement, road or on a ‘pedestrian’ crossing.

We took a tour 30KM out of the city to the Củ Chi Tunnels which are a part of a network of 120km of underground tunnels used by the Viet Cong as base of operations in resisting American operations during the Vietnam war. The underground network housed accommodation, meeting rooms, kitchens and hospitals, all linked with tiny burrow like tunnels. We were taken on a tour of the area and I took the opportunity to enter one of the tunnels. I had to crawl on my hands and knees underground in the pitch black for 40 meters through tunnels which were around 60cm in width and 70cm in height whilst bats flew past my head (not something for those who suffer from claustrophobia). We were also shown some of the handmade traps and bombs that they used to combat the Americans who had completely underestimated the size of this underground network of guerrillas.

Once we returned to Ho Chi Minh City we visited the War Remnants Museum which contained some very graphic imagery and made us realise just how horrible the war really was. Images of children affected by the use of Agent Orange was especially shocking.

Today we took a bus across the Cambodia border to the capital city of Phnom Penh. We are planning on being in Cambodia for around 5 days where we will be visiting the ancient wonder of Angkor Wat.

Laos is know as ‘The Land of Smiles’ and for good reason. The people are incredibly friendly, chilled-out and welcoming especially considering the years of war and isolation. This has also helped to maintain it as one of Southeast Asia’s most intact and pristine environments.

We started our tour of Northern Laos in the capital city of Vientiane by taking advantage of the French cuisine at some of the restaurants and cafes which remain as a result of the French occupation during the 19th and early 20th centuries. We toured the very small capital by hiring two bikes and cycling to some of the many Buddhist temples. It was 38°c so this was done at a very, very leisurely pace.

The following day we took a bus the the popular backpacker haunt of  Vang Vieng. We spent the afternoon slouched in front of the TV in one of the comfy restaurant/bars showing Friends. The following day we wet ‘Tubing’. For those of you that don’t know, this is where you hire a large inflated inner tube and get dropped off 3km up river and float back down to the town. Along the way there are many shack bars that line the river banks. The people working at these bars then cast a line out to you and pull you ashore to the bar. You then have a few drinks followed by some jumping off very high platforms, rope swings and zip wires. Finally, you continue to float down the river going to other bars along the way. As you can imagine this was great fun.

We then took a long bus journey to the beautifully relaxed town of Luang Prabang. It’s stunning Buddhist temples, colourful nights markets, bright orange robed monks and French provincial architecture quickly lulls you into a somnambulant bliss. We spent our first full day doing an Elephant trek through the dense forests. We were allowed to ride the Elephants bareback which was fun but pretty scary when it was walking down or up any of the steep hills. Our Elephant seemed to have a bit of an irritating itch on its bum so whenever it walked past a large rock that it decided looked like a suitable itching point it would bend down and have great enjoyment relieving the irritation. However, this made it very difficult to hold on as we were thrown around all over the place, much to the amusement of the others on the trek.

The next day consisted of the bumpiest, twistiest and noisiest bus journey that I have ever taken. Our young driver considered himself the latest rally superstar and had Gisella felling sick for almost the entire journey.  We arrived in a town called Luang Nam Tha which was a stopover for one night before we headed to a small village called Muang Sing which is situated near the border of the Yunnan province of China. We had booked to do a 3 day trek to experience the Akha hill tribe which is thought to have originated around 1500 years ago. Sadly the night before we were due to start the trek Gisella was very ill after something that she had eaten the day before. We decided that as we had both paid a lot of money to do the trek, then I would do the first day without her and we arranged for a motorbike to take her to the tribes village where I would be staying the following morning.

I started the first days six hour uphill trek with another couple and two guides, one who spoke Akha and Lao and another who spoke Akah, Lao and English. We walked for a few hours and then stopped for lunch at a beautiful waterfall. Our lunch was cooked on a fire by two tribe members who made some very tasty stuffed fish with sticky rice and very, very hot chili paste. After lunch we continued our trek through the forest and along the way we had to remove lots of leeches which had found their way into our shoes. Luckily I managed to catch the ones on me before they sucked too much of my blood. This horrible experience meant that we completed what was supposed to be the remaining three hours of walking in only 1½ hours as we half walked and half ran.

We arrived in the Akha village where we would be spending the night. The tribes people started to return from the fields in the early evening and we took a stroll around the village. The Akha people were all extremely surprised to see us and stared at us everywhere we went. Our Westerner appearances scared some of the children so much that many of them ran away crying. We found out later that there had not been a trek to this village in many months so seeing tourists was not the norm for them. We were amazed at the way that they live their lives, living in much poverty yet remaining so happy. Our guide informed us that only half of all the children born tend to live into adulthood and that they are married at the age of 13-16. As we walked through the village we were amazed when we saw children riding Buffalo bareback, infant boys calving objects from wood using a Machete, young girls looking after babies and teenagers carrying rifles after a day of hunting in the woods. It was clear to us that children are expected to grow up and help their parents from a very young age.

When we returned to our hut that was to be our accommodation for the night, some tribes people were preparing our dinner of Buffalo. Our Akha guide, the head of the village and a few other locals insisted on us drinking some of their homemade 60% Lao Lao (Lao Whiskey) with them. After dark they sang some traditional tribal songs to us and in return they asked us to sing a Farang (Foreigner) song but all we could come up with was Frere Jacques after we had heard their Akha equivalent. It was a great evening and as we looked into the darkness there were fireflies glowing orange everywhere around us. After more Lao Lao we were given a traditional Akha massage before we went to sleep.

The next morning Gisella arrived in the village feeling a lot perkier. We had breakfast and then set off across the lush green rice paddies to the first of three villages that we would be visiting that day. When we arrived were were taught how to do some cotton spinning which we were all useless at. One of the villagers came to us with her two little boys and our Akha guide informed us that she was asking us if we had anything that we could give them to get rid of the measles and lice that they had. It was very hard saying no, especially when you could see that they could not afford to go to the doctor. We were only able to give her some soap and antihistamine cream.

We then continued our trek to the next village where we ate lunch and played games with the children before going to the final village where we would be spending the night. When we arrived I asked if I could ride a Buffalo and after our guide translated to the Akha people they gladly agree. This was also very amusing for the tribes people which had gathered around us. When it became dark a group of children spontaneously came and sang to us. It was so sweet and they seemed to be having so much fun. The evening finished with more singing from the tribes people followed by another traditional massage.

On our last day we arrived in our last village and we discovered that a traditional wedding was taking place. We were ushered into a room where the ceremony was taking place where we saw the 15 year old bride and 16 year old groom who had already been married once before. They were sat back to back as they were not allowed to look at each other. As part of the ceremony we had to witness the sad slaughtering of a pig (sorry Mum) which Gisella and I decided not to watch. The head of the village then placed the liver of the pig on the floor and read the future to see how many children the couple would have and what sexes they would be. We were then plied with more Lao Lao and this was all at 10am in the morning. Later in the day the bride would have Buffalo dung thrown at her to test her strength.

Gisella, just before she fell in the rice paddies.

We left the village feeling slightly shocked at what we had witnessed and a bit worse for wear from the Lao Lao. We were then picked up after completing the ‘Akah Experience’, and it really was an experience. We spent our last two days in Laos flying back to the capital where we sorted out Visa’s for Vietnam and then took a flight to Hanoi.

Gisella and I spent 1 day on the island of Langkawi which we were sadly a little disappointed with as it felt slightly overly commercialised due to the huge number of expensive resorts and tourists. We managed to escape this for a day by paying a man with a jet-ski to drop us at a small island with a nice beach that we had to ourselves all day. We had arranged to be picked up again in the afternoon and luckily he remembered otherwise this message may have been reaching you by Morse code.

We decided to quickly move on the following day and we had originally intended on going to the Perhentian Islands on the East Cost of Malaysia, however, because of the school holidays all of the buses were fully booked. We then attempted to book to go to Singapore but this was also full, as a desperate effort to leave the island rather than having to stay for another 3 days I suggested that we go to a small island north of Langkawi called Koh Lipe in Thailand. It was low season on the islands situated on the West coast of Thailand so transport involved two speedboats and 3 minibuses whereas it was usually just one short speedboat ride from Langkawi. Once we arrived we were both thankful that all of the buses in Malaysia were booked as otherwise we would have missed out this beautiful island.

Spot the odd one out (and no they don't eat cats)

Before I had started my travels I met so many backpackers who raved about the beaches of Thailand but I thought ‘they can’t be that good’ but I can now say that they were all correct. The island of Koh Lipe is an undisturbed paradise that remains how Koh Phi Phi was 20 years ago.

We arrived on the island after a bumpy 2 hour speedboat ride where Gisella somehow managed not to be sick on the other passengers. We were greeted by someone who worked at one of the few resorts on the island. She took us to view the resort but the cheapest option they had was 700 Baht per night (£14) but we were looking for something at around 400 Baht per night (£8) so we moved on. We met a group of 4 backpackers who pointed us towards some bungalows that were 300 Baht per night (£6) so we headed along the beach towards them. Along the way we passed a stunning resort and spa and I suggested to Gisella that we go and have a look just to be nosy. They informed us that the rooms were usually 8000 Baht per night (£160) but because it was low season then we could have it for 3000 Baht per night (£60), this was obviously way over our budget but we still wanted to be nosy and look at the room anyway. This turned out to be a mistake because as soon as Gisella saw the beautiful room with a huge bed covered in flowers, big glass sliding doors, decking area, swimming pool, bar, private secluded garden with outside bathtub, gorgeous bathroom with a glass windowed shower which was situated right on the beach then it made it very hard to say no. I suggested that we stay for her very early birthday present and after haggling a little more then we managed to get the room for 2300 Baht per night (£48), Bargain!

We quickly noted that the staff were extremely attentive and waited on our hand and food, we then realised that that the reason for this was that we were the only guests staying at the resort. Not only were we the only guests staying in the resort but after walking around the island we discovered that there were only around 10 tourists staying on the whole island. The beaches were absolutely mesmerizing. I have seen quite a few beautiful beaches on my travels especially in Indonesia and Philippines but I have never seen sand so white and fine and the sea so turquoise and invitingly warm. Most of the restaurants and accommodation were closed on the island so we were limited to 3 restaurants and 2 bars but the food was great, even if the spiciness was unbelievably hot (that was after ordering it as ‘not too spicy please’).

We spent the following 4 days having a small holiday from the traveling (I am sure some of you will laugh at that but traveling does tire you out) and enjoying our own resort, taking massages, sunbathing, (Gisella no longer looks like a pastey white ghost) drinking and eating. The maids amazed us by their creative towel folding on our bed which was there to greet us when we got back to our room each day. We then had to leave which was very hard and we reentered Malaysia and headed to the Perhentian Islands.

Our accommodation on the island sadly had to bring us back down to backpacker reality however we still managed to stay in a nice bungalow even if it was nowhere near as good as our room in Thailand. The islands were very backpacker orientated and beautiful. The first morning that we arrived we were sat at a cafe having breakfast when someone tapped me on my shoulder, I turned round to find that it was one of my really good friends from back home, Sam Walker, who I had grown up with my whole life. I had no idea that he was in the Perhentian Islands, let alone Asia. I was speechless for a while at how much of a coincidence it was but after getting over the surprise Gisella, Sam, Sam’s girlfriend Robyn and I all got chatting and spent the rest of the day snorkeling and lying on the beach.

After I completed my PADI Open Water diving course earlier in my trip Gisella had decided that she also wanted to try diving. She started by doing her Discover Scuba Diving course in the Perhentians which is designed to be a small introduction to the underwater world. She struggled with her breathing and often felt very panicky. I assisted the dive instructor in trying to calm her down but after completing the course she decided on her own that she would overcome the fear and go on to do her PADI Scuba Diver course. The instructor was incredibly patient and friendly, he refused to let Gisella give up and even after telling me on her last day of the 2 day course that she was “absolutely petrified” she still managed to complete it. I was so proud of her and now we can go diving together which I am really looking forward to.

I found that I was getting a bit bored of islands and beaches (I never thought I would say that) so after 4 days in the Perhentian Islands we took a 27 hour journey to reach Singapore.

What a city it is, it blew me away with its culture, food, architecture and immaculate environment. It is one of those cities where you can just walk around and you find yourself constantly looking around you at all of the amazing things. Along with New York it is definitely my favorite city that I have ever visited. The first day we visited a Chinese Temple, the Botanical Gardens and walked along the river taking in the modern architecture where it appears that the architects were allowed to run wild. The following day we visited another temple before having lunch in the Lau Pa Sat (or “old market” in the Hokkien dialect) food market which consists of what seemed like hundreds of food stalls where they cook everything in front of you. We then looked around the famous Raffles Hotel and the National Museum of History before visiting a few of the incredible shopping malls which line Orchard Road. That evening we went to see some Jazz and finished the day by going to a bar located on the 70th floor of the highest hotel in South East Asia and taking in the incredible nighttime cityscape.

We planned to go rollerblading in East Coast Park and then to Sentosa Island the following day but a huge storm meant that we spent the day at the cinema instead. Three days in Singapore was sadly not enough time for us but we needed to return to Kuala Lumpur ready for our flight to Laos today. Gisella and I think that we will definitely be returning to Singapore at some point in the future to finish taking in all of the sights.

I spent my final 6 days in Indonesia on the relaxing beaches of Bali. I hired a surfboard and a motorbike with a surfboard rack and traveled south to  a place called Balangan Beach which I had been told about by another traveler that I met in Lombok. Before reaching my destination I was stopped at a Police roadblock where I was quickly informed by the overweight ‘law enforcement officer’ that my UK driving license doesn’t cover me to drive in Indonesia. I had heard stories from other travelers about the corrupt Bali police who will quite happily accept bribes. It was a simple “how much is it going to cost me” and I was given the option of  Court or Rp100,000 (£6.50) bribe, so I quickly paid up and I was ushered on my way and told to “travel safely”.

I had booked to stay in a wooden shack on the beach which I had also been told about by a fellow traveler. I arrived and was stunned by how beautiful the beach was. The shack, which was to be my home for the next 6 days, was made from bamboo and somehow balanced on stilts. It was situated so close to the water that at high tide you could see the waves through the floor boards.

As if the beach and my accommodation weren’t enough then there was also amazing surfing situated right out in front. Sadly I over did it a bit on the first couple of days and I suffered from mild heat exhaustion. I took it easy for the remaining days and tried to stay out of the relentless sun.

The day finally came when I was due to fly to Kuala Lumpur to meet Gisella. I left Bali at 6am and arrived in KL 3 hours later. I quickly headed into the city to drop my bag at our hotel and then went back to the airport to meet her. Her flight landed early but it took over an hour before she came through the arrivals doors. It was one of the longest hours of my life but she arrived safe and tired after only having slept for 3 out of the 13 hours of her flight. We went back to our hotel called the Rainforest Bed and Breakfast which was the nicest place that I had stayed since I had started my travels. That evening I took her to see the beautiful Petronas Towers and then we went out for a nice meal. We spent the following 2 days visiting markets, eating nice food and exploring China Town and Little India.

We then took ‘the bus from hell’ to the Cameron Highlands in Central Malaysia. We originally intended to leave at 9am but after discovering that the bus station where we thought the bus departed from had closed down we then had to take a bus out of the city to a temporary terminal, this in turn meant that we missed the 9am bus. We then waited for the 10:30am bus which didn’t arrive until 11:30. We finally set off only for the bus to break down on the side of the motorway after 30minutes. We waited for 1 hour until a mechanic arrived and then continued for another hour when the bus broke down once again on the side of the motorway. The bus driver quickly arranged for his family to pick him up and we were left stranded, with no driver, in the middle of nowhere for 1 ½ hours before another bus picked us up. We finally arrived in the Cameron Highlands at 8:30pm, 7 ½ hours later than originally planned.

We spent 2 days in the refreshing highlands situated at around 1500-2000 Meters with a comfortable temperature of 21degrees (compared to the 35  degrees in KL). During the first day we did a 3 hour hike which ended with us taking shelter from the rain at a wedding reception hall. We were invited inside by some very friendly and welcoming wedding guests who told us to help ourselves to some of the tasty Malay food. This was an Islamic wedding where all of the guest where dressed in beautiful head scarfs and traditional outfits. You can imagine how much Gisella and I stood out in our wet and muddy hiking gear but to our surprise nobody seemed to mind.

The following morning we hired a taxi for 3 hours driven by a friendly old Malay local in his beautiful old Mercedes. We did our own private tour of one of the nearby ‘Boh’ tea plantations which are famous in the area. After taking in the stunning views across the plantation and sampling a cup of tea we then moved on to visit to a Bee Farm.

That afternoon we took a ‘bus from heaven’ (it left on time, from the correct departure point and didn’t break down) to the culinary capital of Malaysia, Penang Island. In 2009 New York Times readers voted Penang as the No.2 must visit location, the main reason for this being the food. I can tell you that the NY Times readers were correct, the food here was incredible. The mixed population of Chinese, Indian and Malay has resulted in some great fusions cuisine. We enjoyed some mouthwatering food such as Indian Biriyani and Tandoori, Chinese Dim Sum and noodles and Nonya (combination of Chinese and Malay traditions) Otak Otak (a mousse-type of fish cake with a taste of spices, then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed).

We hired a motorbike for 2 days and spent the first visiting the Penang National Park which is home to the beautiful beach, Teluk Duyong. We spent a few hours lying in the sun so that Gisella would look less like a pastey ghost (her words) and playing on the rope swings. We then visited a nearby waterfall before sampling one of the locally grown Durian (a fruit with an odor so strong that it has led to it being banished from some hotels and public transportation in southeast Asia) at a roadside stall.

The following day we visited the beautiful Kek Lok Si temple which is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia before returning to Georgetown where we were staying to take in some of the famous colonial architecture and visit the perfectly restored 19th-century Penang Peranakan Mansion.

Today we moved onto the ‘tropical paradise’ of Langkawi which borders Thailand and consists of 99 islands. We intend to stay here for a few days before heading to the East cost of Malaysia to head south towards Singapore.

After leaving the tourist chaos that is Bali I have spent 2 weeks on the neighboring island of Lombok which is the complete antithesis. I started by spending 5 days on the tiny white sand island of Gili Trawangan which is located on the North West corner of Lombok.  This was an amazing place to completely relax, aided by the fact that the only transport is by bike or horse and cart and the very laid back, “go with the flow” ethos of the 700 inhabitants of the island. I made friends with a great group of people (1 German, 1 Dutchman, 1 Italian, 2 Swedish and 2 English) on the small boat on the way over from Lombok. We spent the days either lying on the beach or by the pool, diving, surfing, eating or drinking. Although Gili Trawangan is one of 3 small islands located on the North West coast it is considered the most touristy, however, if the island is touristy then I can’t imagine how quite the other 2 islands are because for me it was perfect.

One evening in particular I was surfing with 2 of my friends and it was an incredible spot. The sun was setting beside the silhouette of one of Bali’s volcanoes on the horizon, there were great waves, crystal clear waters and beautiful corals and fish below us. Finally, to top it all off, there was a beautiful rainbow. It was a sight that I will remember for a very long time.

The diving in the Gilis was also great. We did one dive at the site of an old wreck where I got to see my first Octopus as well as a big Puffa Fish, lots of turtles, Crocodile Fish, Scorpion Fish, a Moray Eel and lots of undisturbed Corals. That evening a few of us hired one of the bamboo beach huts on the beach where you can choose from hundreds of films and sit on comfy cushions and eat popcorn whilst listening to the sea.

I felt that I had spent long enough on the Gili Islands and so me and one of my friends, a Dutch guy called Thijs went back to Lombok and hired two motorbikes and drove to a small beach side town on the south coast called Kuta. Once again Kuta on Lombok was the complete antitheses of the town of Kuta on Bali. It was a very surfing orientated town as there are many famous surfing spots located nearby. We spent 3 days driving to some of the beautiful bays along the coats. Most of which had no development of any kind nearby and were left completely untouched. One area in particular called Mawan Bay was truly amazing. I rode there one evening on my own when the sun was setting and I had the entire 1km horseshoe shaped beach completely to myself. I walked along the beach as a few small fishing boats returned from their day on the sea. I took a few photos of them sorting out their nets and when one of the small children spotted me, he came running up to me with a huge smile on his face because he wanted to see himself on the camera. The family only spoke the local dialect of Sasak but I still managed to have a laugh with them even though neither of us could understand a word of the other was saying.

Thijs had to return to Bali for his flight back to Holland but I didn’t feel that I had spent enough time in Lombok so I rode with him back to where we had hired the motorbikes and arranged to meet up with my friend Martijn who I had traveled with earlier in my trip. He also had a friend with him so the 3 of us took a motorbike each and drove down the South West peninsular which is virtually unexplored by tourists. Our guide book had very little written about the area so we took a gamble and drove for 2 hours and searched for somewhere to stay. We managed to find some nice beach bungalows which had been built by a German guy who had been living in Indonesia for 17 years. We used this as our base for exploring the coast and we visited the surf spot of Desert Point which is extremely hard to reach due to incredibly bumpy dirt road which leads to it. I have no idea how our small automatic bikes managed to make it there without getting a flat tire or overheating. We then followed a perfectly maintained and unused road to a beautiful bay on the south coast. The road had been built by foreign investors who intended to build some huge hotels and resort here but for some reason or another work had never actually begun, much to our appreciation.

I felt that I wanted to go back to the South which I had previously visited with Thijs so all three of us took the 3 hour ride back there. This time I was keen to surf on some of the huge waves rather than just chill on the beaches. Martijn and I hired a small outrigger boat for 3 hours which was skippered by a 11 year old boy who dropped us at a surf spot called Grupuk. There had been a big swell and some of the long ‘right’ waves were huge 10ft barrels. I learnt a few lessons very quickly and the ability to duck dive through some of the waves was very helpful. I stuck to the edges of some of the waves and had great fun surfing for 3 hours. I was completely drained afterwards so sitting on the beach was the more attractive option than surfing again in the afternoon.

After a total of 2 weeks in Lombok I had to return to Bali to collect my Visa. I had left my bag at one of the tourist offices in Mataram, the capital of Lombok and taken a small bag with me for the 2 weeks so that I didn’t have to carry my big bag on the motorbike. When I returned to pick it up the office workers had said that they wondered whether I was ever going to return to pick it up, especially as I had originally only intended on staying in Lombok for 2 days.

It is 1 week today until Gisella comes to meet me in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. I am sure you can all imagine how excited I am. If everyone back home could keep their fingers crossed that her flight is not delayed or cancelled because of the ash cloud then that would be great.

Until then I am going to spend the week giving Bali another chance and doing some more surfing at some of the many famous spots. As I am sure you have all gathered surfing and scuba diving seem to have become my new addictions since I have started traveling. All the best to everyone back home.

After updating you all with my last blog post I have done quite a few different things and all of them have been great.

I spent 5 days at Pangandaran Beach where I made some great friends. Most of my time was taken up by surfing morning and afternoon everyday. One of the days a small group of us hired 2 motorbikes and went surfing at a great spot called Batu Karas which had some nice long waves that were perfect for practicing on.

We also took a trip to the nearby Green Canyon that sadly was more like a Brown Canyon due to the fact that it had rained the night before and washed a lot of sediment into the river. It was still a great day and we spent some time jumping off of trees and waterfalls and swimming in caves. On our way back we visited a turtle hatchery program where they collect newly laid eggs from the beach and then release the baby turtles into the wild once they have hatched. This program is designed to prevent locals from poaching the eggs and selling them.

I left Pangandaran with a Dutch friend called Matijn who I had met during my stay. We headed to a city called Yogyakarta where we stayed at a nice artistically decorated guest house. Although this was one of the nicest places that I had stayed since beginning my travels I managed to get bitten from head to toe by bed bugs during the night. The constant itching sadly took some fun out of the following day when we visited the two million stone blocks that make up the beautiful Buddhist temple of Borobudur. The temple was incredible and we hired a guide who explained many of the intricate carvings at the UNESCO listed site.

The next morning I got up after a bed bug bite free night and started an 11 hour journey to another city located in East Java called Malang. Although the journey on one train and two buses only cost me a total of £2.80 I was very glad to finally arrive. I was met by an Indonesian University student called Wildan who was studying to teach English in Malang. I had been put in contact with Wildan by Kumis who had been my guide in Cianjur two weeks earlier. Once I finally located Wildan he showed me to my guest house where here had paid for me to stay for 2 nights. In exchange for his kindness he simply wanted me to speak English to him and his friends so that they could practice, as you can imagine, this was not the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

Early the following morning Wildan took me to meet some of his fellow course mates before heading to a local high school. I visited two classes where I was asked to conduct the lesson for an hour or so. This was quite daunting at first but the kids were all very friendly and keen to ask me questions. This went on for a while and then I asked them to tell me about themselves in English and then describe their individual projects that they were currently working. The standard of the students English was very high and they were all very enthusiastic to practice which made the experience a lot easier for me.

The same day I had been in contact with my friend Martijn who was also due to visit Malang. I suggested that he could also stay at the guest house and join me and 10 of Wildan’s friends on a trip to Gunung Bromo (Mount Bromo), a 7,641 ft active volcano. Twelve of us left for Bromo at 7pm the following day. We reached a small town called Cemoro Lawang in the middle of the night and then took two 4 Wheel Drives up to the viewpoint on Mount Penanjakan (2,270 meters). We waited in the freezing cold for 2 hours before we got to see the beautiful sun rise at around 5am. Once the sun had risen we then took the 4 Wheel Drives into the Tengger Semeru National Park and climbed up to the crater of Mt. Bromo. We were rewarded by a stunning view across the beautifully flat and vast plain named locally as The Sand Sea. We descended the volcano and then had a very sleep drive back to Malang.

The same day Martijn and I took an 11 hour bus journey to Bali where we are now. We are staying in a very touristy area called Kuta and so I am keen to leave quickly once I have attempted to extend my Visa which will mean that I can stay in Indonesia for a few more weeks.

I have been a bit lazy with the blog lately so here is a very belated update.

After leaving the Kinabatangan River and the group of crazy travelers that I met behind, I returned to Kota Kinabalu. Outside of KK are a group of 4 islands which all have great white sand beaches and beautiful coral which makes for great snorkeling. I spent two days visiting these islands and relaxing in the blisteringly hot sun. I then spent another couple of days doing some trekking around Mt. Kinabalu in the refreshingly cool national park. I was really keen to climb Mt. Kinabalu itself, however, there was a 3 month waiting list for climbing so sadly I had to give it a miss.

When I returned to my hostel in KK I bumped into the group that I had spent time with at the Kinabatangan River ( I am still convinced that they were stalking me). We spent a few further days together which consisted on some island hopping, snorkeling, eating at the night market and white water rafting on the nearby Grade IV Padas River rapids. I had never done any white water rafting before and it was at times genuinely petrifying. Especially the times when we all very nearly fell out of the boat into the rapids. One of the girls, Emma, who was in the group that I met up with almost managed to knock one of our crew member unconscious with her camera whilst trying to take a photo of the crazy rapids. I think he will be physically and mentally scarred by the events for the rest of his life

Coincidentally we all had flights booked for leaving KK on the same day. I was heading to Jakarta in Indonesia, Kate to Auckland, Graham and Andrea to Bangkok and Emma was going back to Sydney. After saying goodbye I set off on my 3 hour flight to Jakarta.

After arriving at midnight I immediately knew that I wanted to spend as little time in the polluted capital as possible and so I slept in a horrible guest house for a few hours and then  got up early to take a train to the nearby town of Bogor. I spent the day exploring the 87 hectare botanical gardens which are the green lung of the town and were setup in 1817 with the help of Kew Gardens in London.

The following day I had arranged to do a home stay program in the nearby town of Cianjur. The program was setup by author Yudi Sijana who developed the program to allow travelers the opportunity to experience life in a non-touristy town in Java. After being dropped off by the bus I was greeted by a friendly guy called Kumis who was to be my guide for the next few days. After dropping my bags off at Yudi’s house we visited the nearby plastic recycling plant that he runs along with his brother before doing a quick tour of the town. In the evening Kumis and I went to a local live music venue where we met a few of his friends including a girl called Lizzy who was to become a great friend of mine over the next few days.

The following morning Kumis took me to visit a rural Sundanese (The people of west Java) village high up in the volcanic hills surrounded by stunning rice terraces. After a long motorbike ride and hike we reached the remote community who immediately welcomed us by cooking a fantastic traditional lunch made from their own fresh produce and cooked on an open fire stove. After lunch I was given a traditional leg massage which I complimented by falling asleep for 1 hour. We then went on to visit a tea plantation which was situated alongside a stunning waterfall that the locals use as a way of collecting gold.

The following morning I had to borrow some smart clothes from Yudi as I was going to be judging an English speaking competition at a nearby school. We started the morning by visiting another school that was holding an anniversary celebration which consisted of lots of live bands and traditional Indonesian dancing. I was constantly the subject of many photographs taken by various teenage girls who all wanted to have a picture taken with me. Not that I was bothered but after a while I suggested that I should start charging 5,000 Rupiah (30p) per photo

We then went to the English speaking competition where I was 1 of 3 judges, the other 2 being English teachers at the school. I was extremely nervous as there was a big crowd of students watching and after each performance I had to ask a question relevant to their chosen subject (Democracy is not Democrazy, Global Warming or the Effects of the Internet) followed by some constructive feedback. I was amazed at the standard of their English and it made me realise just how lazy we are about learning foreign languages in England. In the evening I was taken out for some Padang food (cuisine from the Padang region of Sumatra, Indonesia) with a couple of locals before finally getting to bed after a very tiring day.

I was due to leave the following morning however I was persuaded to help out judging a storytelling competition which was due to take place at the same school. After dressing up smart for one more day and judging the competition, I was invited to dinner by Lizzy at her family home. We had some great Sate which was extremely ‘Enak” (Tasty).

My time in Cianjur was so enjoyable. It was the first time since I have been traveling that I felt like I had gotten a true insight into the culture and the way people live their day-to-day lives. The locals were the most genuinely friendly and welcoming people that I have ever met and I would really like to thank Yudi, his family, the team, Kumis and Lizzy for such a wonderful stay.

Yesterday I took a 9 hour bus ride to the beautiful beach town of Pangandaran located on the south coast of Java. I am hoping to get to do some surfing along with some more relaxing on the white sand beaches. Hopefully my next update will not take so long.

After leaving Seporna where I had been diving I decided that I would head north to stay at a tropical retreat called Paganakan Dii near Sepilok, Sabah, Northern Borneo. It was a great place to relax in the very humid tropical rainforest surroundings. I stayed in one of their new Longhouses (a type of long, narrow, single-room building built traditionally by the indigenous peoples of Borneo) which had 12 beds and I had all to myself. It was a lovely airy building surrounded by the sounds of the rainforest which was great to wake up to in the mornings.

The first evening I was there I met a group of four Brits who were on holiday in Borneo for 2 weeks. They invited me to have a drink with them and I ended up travelling with them for the following four days. They were great fun to be around and after an evening of drinking, laughing and dancing the saff of the retreat informed us that they never really had visitors like us but they had really enjoyed our company.

The following morning we took a trip to the nearby Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre set in 4,300-hectares of the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve. As a visitor you are allowed to watch the orphaned Orangutans as they are feeding at the phase 1 platform. The reason there are so many orphaned Orangutans in Borneo is mainly due to the deforestation of the rainforest to make way for Palm Oil plantations. This forces the Orangutans into human conflict where they are often kept as pets by uneducated locals and mothers often become parted from their young ones.

The centre slowly reintroduces the orphaned Orangutans into the wild through a series of 3 feeding platforms. Phase one platform is located near to the rehabilitation centre at the edge of the open rainforest and the Oragutans are fed twice daily with some human interaction. Phase 2 is located deeper inside the rainforest where they are fed slightly less with no interaction from humans and Phase 3 is located deep inside the rainforest where they are fed very little. This slowly encourages the Orangutans to go deeper into the rainforest at the same time as increasing their need to find their own food. The Orangutans are free to go from phase to phase as they feel happy. Some will take months to move out into their natural habitat and some take years.

It was great to see the Orangutans so closely, however, I still really wanted to see them in their natural environment without the aid of humans. We all decided to go on a 2 day/3 night trip to the Kinabatangan River. After travelling for 3 hours along roads surrounded by palm oil plantations that extended as far as you could see we reached the Kinabatangan River Nature Lodge. That evening we took a boat trip down the river into the rainforest. We were incredibly lucky as my wish came true when we saw a male Orangutan high up in a fig tree on the edge of the river. I was so happy to get to see an Orangutan in the wild and I couldn’t believe my luck when 20 minutes later we saw a female Orangutan with her baby. Our guide informed us that it was very rare to see Orangutans in the wild nowadays, let alone 2 separate sightings. We were also lucky enough to see a group of Proboscis Monkeys (the ones with the big long red noses, not the prettiest of animals), Ring Tailed Macaques, Kingfishers and beautiful Rhinoceros Hornbills. I was stunned at the amount of wildlife that could be found along the river.

That evening, after being bombarded by lots of large insects and Mosquitoes at dinner, we went out on a night safari kitted up in Leech socks. Once again our luck was in as we saw a Western Tarsier as it clung to the tree on its way to the top, its huge eyes mesmerised by our torch lights.

We woke at 5:30am the following morning ready for another river safari. We saw lots of bird life as well as a couple of big, and very dangerous, Freshwater Crocodiles. We returned for breakfast and then went on a 3 hour trek to an Oxbow lake. We saw a Prevosts Squirrel, various dangerous and brightly coloured spiders and Elephant tracks but sadly no elephants. Once again in the evening we went out on a river trip and unbelievably we saw another young Orangutan playing in the trees. I was starting to think that these Orangutans weren’t actually endangered but the constant reminder of how lucky we were from the guide erased any suspicion. We also saw some highly venomous tree snakes.

After one more night I said goodbye to my new friends as they headed to Semporna where I had already been and I headed for Kota Kinabalu. I am planning on staying here for a couple of nights before heading to the east Malaysian state of Sarawak.

It has been a while since my last update and that is because I have spent most of that time under the water.

I flew from Cebu in the Philippines to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Malaysian Borneo, where I stopped off over night and then continued on to Semporna on the east coast.

The day after I arrived I started my PADI Open Water course with a company called Scuba Junkie. I was also staying at their hostel which was nearby along with lots of other travelers who all share the same interest of Scuba Diving.

The first day consisted of sitting in a classroom watching theory videos which started at 8am and finished at 5pm. At the end of the day I had to complete a final exam which I scored a total of 92%, so I was pretty happy.

The following morning I put everything I had learnt into practice by diving with my instructor. It mainly involved remembering various acronyms such as (B)CD, (W)eights, (R)eleases, (A)ir, (F)inal Okay, which I remembered by saying British Women Really Are Foxy and recited just before I started a dive to make sure everything was safe and correct. We were diving at an island called Sibuan which is the most perfect picture postcard island that I have ever seen. It is essentially a sand bar in the middle of some crystal clear water topped with a few palm trees and huts which are home to some sea gypsy’s.

The final day involved less practice and more general ‘fun diving’ which was great. We went to an island called Mabul and we did 3 separate dives. I passed all of the criteria and I am now fully Open Water certified which means I can dive with a Dive Master to a depth of 18 Meters.

I took a day off on the following day as my ears had been giving me problems by not equalising when descending on a dive. This happens when the pressure in your ear is not equal to the pressure of the water and it can be very painful and annoying as it prevents you from going deeper until they equalise.

A few days earlier I tried to book myself on a dive trip to an island called Sipadan. This is probably the most famous island in Borneo. It is the tip of a limestone pinnacle that rises 600m from the seabed and is regarded as one of the very best places to dive in the world. When I attempted to make the booking I discovered that there was a 1 month waiting list to dive there as diving is limited by permit to only a small number per day. I asked around and luckily found another dive center nearby that had one available spot in 2 days time, I grabbed at the opportunity even though it was more expensive.

The next day I did 3 more fun dives for the first time since passing my Open Water. It was a great day and we saw 3 Spotted Eagle Rays which are extremely rare along with lots of Turtles, Frog Fish, Lion Fish, Moray and Ribbon Eels and large Crocodile Fish.

Yesterday was the big day of the dive to Sipadan. I had spooken to lots of people who had done hundreds of dives and even they were saying how incredible it was so my expectations were quite high. I can now safely say that Iwas not dissapointed. We arrived at this stunning island which is protected by the Malaysian Military and signed for our permits. We then began the day by diving at a site at Sipadan called White Tip Avenue, so called because of all of the White Tip Sharks which can be found there. We were greeted by yet more Green Sea Turtles which were around 1.5 meters in length, a Napoleon Wrasse of around 2 meters, various brightly colored Puffa Fish, White Tip and Black Tip Sharks and Yellowtail Barracuda. It was obvious that the fish were all doing very well here, I had seen lots of these marine animals at other sites but none of them were anywhere near as large as they were here. As an Open Water Diver I am only supposed to dive to a depth of 18 meters and if I was to do my Advanced Open Water I could go on to dive at 30 Meters. On this dive however my Dive Master who was suppoosed to be keeping an eye on me accidentally allowed me to dive to 35.5 meters. This is classed as a dangerous depth as often many people can suffer from Nitrogen Narcosis at around 30 meters where they feel as if they are drunk and suffer from loss of decision-making ability and focus, and impaired judgment and coordination. Luckily I can say I was fine, however, I won’t be diving that deep again.

The second dive of the day was at a site called Barracuda Point, again the name gives away what you are likely to see here. We saw a swimming Giant Moray Eel, more sharks and turtles and a huge battery of hundreds of Barracuda which swam slowly around us as we sat and watched on the sandy bottom. We had been warned not to wear any shiny jewelery as sometime Barracudas can mistake this for prey and nip a finger or two off of your hand.

The visibility in Sipadan was as much as 30meters and our final dive at a spot called Hanging Garden allowed us to take in the truly mesmerising magnitude of the vertical, natural limestone, coral covered wall which plummets straight down into the deeps below. We sat in the current and drifted along the wall watching all of the beautiful fish and marine life. It reminded me in a strange way of the Generation Game as all of the fish and marine life slowly passes by in front of you as you drift parallel in the current and then at the end of the dive you would have to try and remember everything that you saw. The wonderful thing about Scuba Diving is that you seem completely weightless so often I would watch all of the fish upside down or lying on my back, it really was great fun.

Today is my last day here and I am trying to work out where to head next. I am either going to go south in Kalimantan which is Indonesian Borneo or North to the Jungle to do a river trip remaining in Malaysian Borneo. My next update will inform you of my decision.