Brisbane - Arriving in Oz

We arrived in Brisbane, Australia feeling very optimistic. We checked into a hostel called Somewhere to Stay on Brighton Road which is based in the West End of Brisbane just a short walk from the beautiful South Bank. The hostel was basic but perfect for what we wanted with a breath taking view of the city skyline. This was especially gorgeous at night when the lights lit up the sky. We were able to start cooking again, no more noodles and rice and no more restaurants and street food for breakfast, lunch and dinner as we were having to in Asia (not that were complaining).

Home from home

Photo doesnt do it justice - View of Brisbane city lights

During our first week in Brisbane we had a few things that needed doing. We needed Ozzy phone numbers, Ozzy bank accounts, a campervan and a job. We had the first two jobs ticked off the list on the first day. Finding a campervan was to prove a lot more tricky. We spent days viewing and test driving campers that were within our budget and we were becoming more and more disappointed. We saw some serious wrecks, our favourite for being the worse of the worse had a mattress in the back of an extremely rusty van. The boot of the van was almost hanging off as the bumper was rusting away. They had however managed to find room for a microwave, the lack of power in the van didn't seem to phase them. It was all to strange and we realised we weren't going to get what we wanted on our budget. We looked at our options and decided not having a car is just too impossible as Oz is just too big to get anywhere by foot. So we started looking at cars.

We were only looking for a day or so when we found our Casper. His not the youngest car but he was so much cheaper than a rusty campervan that we were able to buy a lovely big tent and all the camping equipment necessary, allowing us to work our way round Queensland. We are still hoping to get a camper at some point but were now thinking that can wait until we earn some dollar. Were probably rent a van when we have finished working and were ready to tour the rest of the country.

Casper - our Toyota Camry

Introducing - Casper, tent and Jonny

We managed to get loads of leads with regards to finding a job but the real job hunting starts when we return in the new year . . . ..

Singapore

Sorry for the delay to writing this blog. Unfortunately finding internet in Australia is harder that it was in Asia.

After we had visited KL in Malaysia we headed down to Singapore on a 6 hour coach journey where we would be meeting Dad (Lara). Unable to find any sort of decent hotel for less than £70 we decided we would upgrade our hotel and stay in the hotel Dad was due to stay at. Arriving in Singapore at a very early 4am we went to find a little cafe where we could get some breakfast and a coffee before heading up to the hotel to give Dad his early morning wake up call.

While in Singapore we decided to hit some of the key sights. On the Saturday we headed into the city via the free bus, two tubes and along walk. I think it would be fair to say that we introduced Dad to the backpacker life where every penny counts. Once in downtown Singapore we headed to Orchard Street to see the christmas lights and take in a little shopping before heading to the Singapore Botanical Gardens. The gardens were lovely and it was a good opportunity for Dad to put his camera to use. On the way back we stopped off in a local restaurant to have a spot of lunch and then headed back to the hotel. After a sit around the pool, shower and change, we were ready to go again. This time we were going to go to Raffles Hotel, home to the Singapore Sling. After a couple of cocktails we decided to have some dinner in their courtyard. This just happened to be on the night of the Solar Eclipse. It was an incredible event to witness and I think one, none of us will forget.

On Sunday we woke up to the most horrendous rain. Because of this we decided to hand around the hotel in the morning and then in the afternoon we again headed back to the city. This time we were going to visit the Sands Casino. This is basically the most incredible building you will ever see. Made up of three high rises with a boat then placed on top of all three. We headed straight up to the top to see the boat, which has the most magnificent views of the city high-rises, Singapore national football stadium and the Singapore F1 Grand Prix circuit. Having taken some pictures we went for some lunch, still on the boat. It was an incredible place to have lunch overlooking the city. What made the building more outstanding was the fact that the hotel (one of the three buildings) had their infinity swimming pool on the roof. It really needs to be seen to be believed.

Monday came all to quick and before we knew it our weekend with a familiar face was over. We had to pack up and get ready for the flight that we had to catch to Brisbane later that night. After packing we headed up to the main swimming pool (which was also on the roof) and spent the afternoon their. All too soon the weekend was over and we needed to go to the airport.

It was lovely to see Dad and we had such a fantastic weekend. We were just sad that it was over all to quickly.

We Wish You A Very Merry Christmas

We Wish You A Merry Christmas,

We Wish You A Merry Christmas,

We Wish You A Merry Christmas,

And A Happy New Year!!!

We would just like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas where ever you are and whatever you may be doing. Given the fact that we are in Australia, by time you read this there is every possibility that our Christmas will be over for another year.

We would also like to wish everyone a very prosperous 2012. We will see you in September!!!

From a very warm (not at all like Christmas) Australia, all the best and 'See ya later mate'

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur was our first taste of real city life since leaving the UK and what a city it is. We did think that Bangkok was one of the most diverse cities in the world, that was until we came here.

We were lucky to have accommodation that was in the middle of everything, a short walk to China town, Little India, Business district and we had a view that was amazing for a pair of city-lovers. We were among the hustle and bustle of the banking lifestyle. As the sun went down the city lights came on, the huge office blocks lit up the sky. Some people would hate being so close to so much mayhem but we found it quite comforting. After months of travelling round cute and quite towns, this felt more urban and more like home. It was even quite comforting as we went to sleep people were still working in the offices around us, probably watching the UK stock markets which made us feel even closer to home in a strange way.

We stayed in China town, home to the yummiest street food. One stall we fell a little bit in love with and found ourselves eating there at least 4 times during our 4 day visit. One day we had lunch then went back a few hours later for the same again it was just so good. We were a 2 minute walk to little India which had all the colours that we would imagine you would find in the real country. The food wasn't too bad either. We found ourselves enjoying the most incredible chicken korma with loads of delicious extras.

The biggest wow came when we saw the business section of the city. It was easy to believe we were in the middle of New York city. There are possibly more skyscrapers than anywhere else we have ever been. The shopping centre under the twin towers was fabulous, floor after floor after floor of designer goodies. After months without a Topshop it was just so lovely to be able to window shop for hours. (If we wernt backpackers, it would be real shopping).

One day we decided to go up the twin towers and have a birds eye view of the city. We paid our money and stepped into the lift. The lift was flug up the side of the building at a rate of 7 meters per second. We arrived on the 41st floor. We exited the lift and found ourselfs on the bridge that links the two towers. Jonny's Virtigo instantly kicked in and became a quivering wreck. Adventually he managed to come near the windows and by the end of it was walking round like any other person. The views were incredible but no where near as incredible as what was to come. We got back into the lift and climbed up to the 83rd floor. This was just exceptional. We were higher than anything else in the city.  You could just about see cars from this height, but people were near on impossible to see.

Twin Towers - Viewing Bridge

Us on the Viewing Bridge

View of City from 41st floor

View of City from 83rd floor.

KL Motorway from 83rd floor

Twin Towers at Night

It was made even more wonderful by the incredible christmas decorations. We had failed to see a single snowflake or hear a single xmas carol in Asia and as soon as we arrived in Kuala Lumpur we were hit with the unexpected christmas spirit. Massive christmas trees, many father christmas' and the asian version of jingle bells followed us around "Ding, ding, dong. Ding, ding, dong. Ding, ding, ding ding, dong".

We really did have a fabulous time and it got us all warmed up for the urban jungle that is Singapore.

The Thai Islands

This really felt like a new chapter to our travels, it was time to hit the beaches and relax.

Koh Samnui

We landed on Koh Samui ready to unwind; we unpacked quickly and headed to the main strip. We were met with countless restaurants and bars, they were far more expensive than the rest of Thailand, but we kind of expected this. It is an island after all and anyway we were ready to treat ourselves. After a few cocktails we were offered a flyer for a ladyboys show. We had had enough liquid courage at this point so decided to give it ago. Oh my goodness these guys were so beautiful, it was just incredible. I had to keep asking Jonny, "Are you sure, they are all men?". One of them took a shine to Jonny and caught him itching so she came over to help scratch his back. Jonny looked rather petrified much to my amusement. We had a real giggle and loved the night. The next day suffering from a slight hangover we decided to lay on the beach with a good book. After a few days and nights of doing much the same thing, we decided that we would move on and we booked the boat to Koh Tao.

Koh Tao

Koh Tao is the island we had been told everyone learns to dive. Our boat journey to the island was just under 2 hours and unfortunately it was not the smoothest journey. It got so bumpy the crew resorted to handing out sick bags on a regular occasion and by the end of the journey at least 50% of people on the boat were using them. I am proud to say Jonny and I were one of the privileged few not needing them, you may say we have stomachs made of steel. When we finally arrived on Koh Tao, needless to say there were a few pale faces. We found the dive company we had researched and they took us to their resort. Unfortunately it was from this point that things started to go downhill. Apparently having asthma and diving is not the best combination of sports and illnesses. If it is not known what triggers the Asthma (as in Jonny’s case) then it can be particularly dangerous. They explained that if you’re under the water and have an attack the consequences can be fatal. If you go to the service to quick the lungs are often under too much pressure and burst. If you were lucky enough to get to the surface without bursting a lung then you would still need to be flown to Bangkok to be put in a decompression chamber to avoid further damage and what’s commonly known as ‘The Bends’. There were also risks relating to the medication Jonny has. They say if he took the inhaler before diving it will increase the chance of decompression sickness. Therefore he was advised not to take his medication yet that increased the chance of an attack which is fatal under water. It was all sounding extremely gloomy. The staff at the resort did say "Our medical expert says you are fine to dive as long as you’re aware of the consequences". . . . . . It really didn’t take much thinking to decide diving just isn’t for us. It’s a real shame but I guess the underwater world just wont be explored by us with a scuba diving kit. I’m pleased to say however that snorkeling is still good.

Feeling rather down, but still being on this sensational island we decided to bite the bullet and check ourselves into a nice 4* resort with beach and swimming pool. A luxury none of our previous hotel have had. We spent the day around the pool and returned to the room. The hotel was fantastic, made up of lots of individual tree houses. It really was very pretty. While I was in the shower Jonny was out on the balcony having a beer. As soon as I came out he told me that he had seen a rat climb a tree and jump into our roof. No sooner had he finished his sentence we could hear squeaking and rustling in the roof above us. Needless to say this is not what we expected at a 4 star hotel considering we hadn’t had any animal issues in any of the hostels we have previously stayed in. Long and the short of it….we checked out.

Ko Phangan

It was time for some serious cheering up after the diving and rat disasters so we decided to visit another gorgeous island called Ko Phangan. Obviously from our experiences 4 star just was not good enough (haha) so using the money we saved from not diving we checked into a 5 star resort. We arrived and we were not for one second disappointed. Maybe it was a good thing that we couldn’t dive as we were now in paradise. After months of traveling and staying in hostels the king size bed with comfy pillows was almost overwhelming. We had a bathroom which was bigger than most rooms we have stayed in, with its massive rain shower and double bath. We also had a balcony that looked over a lagoon swimming pool and the private bay. The breakfast at the hotel was the best we had both ever had and it was served looking over the beautiful blue sea. The service was just incredible; the staff were so happy and polite and they made us feel like royalty. It was a short walk along the beach to a cute little village which had some amazing restaurants and some seriously good ‘happy hour’ cocktails. We became a particular fan of the Mai Tai cocktail in a restaurant called Luna, if anyone finds themselves in Ko Phangan we can recommend it. Although one night while dinning there we were happily ordering the Mai Tai’s one after another, only to find out this was the one night ‘Happy Hour’ did not exist.

We did not want to leave and we did extend our stay by one night and seriously contemplated staying longer. But our adventure had to continue.

Krabi

Krabi is on the mainland and is part of the Andaman coast, it is known as the gateway to what have been described as the most beautiful bays in the world. We found the town very cute, unfortunately we weren’t blessed with sunshine so it was a little hard to enjoy. They had a crazy busy night market which was full to the brim with locals which actually felt refreshing as we had spent a while in such tourist places. We did travel to the beach and treated ourselves to well needed foot treatments. After a couple of months in flip-flops its fair to say our feet had been neglected, we showed the lady our feet and she seemed a little shocked. She said she could improve Jonnys feet but it will take longer than normal and therefore cost a bit more, we could appreciate this. After a couple of hours Jonny noticed a sting on his big toe (but just thought he had a small cut), he told the lady and she looked slightly panicked but she carried on. When we left our feet were nice and pampered. Well mine were. Sadly the same could not be said for Jonny and his big toe. There was a massive burn that must have been caused by the acid she had been using. It had eaten away a lot of the skin and it was not looking good at all. Jonny seems to think it had eaten down to the bone and at one point I’m sure I heard him say that he thinks it will need to be amputated. Seriously though we wont put a photo on the blog as it really is not a very pretty sight at all. A little too yuck but we can email pics on request =). I am pleased to say he was a very brave boy and after bathing it in hot salt water and using lots of antiseptic cream its beginning to heal nicely.

Phuket

Phuket was our final stop in Thailand, we had to choose between the lively beach area or the traditional town. We decided as were becoming cultured adults were opt for the quieter town, it turns out this was a bad choice. We soon realised were still very much students at heart and the night life was missed. Phuket town is beautiful; it has some gorgeous Portuguese architecture and quirky little shops in the old part of town. All attractions seemed very spread out and there was a lack of transport as not many people opt for the town. As we only had a couple of nights here we found it hard to see anything we wanted to see. Jonny says the best thing about Phuket was . . . . . leaving.

We were extremely sad about leaving Thailand, we really had fallen in love with the people, food, culture and we really can’t find fault with any place we stayed (minus Phuket). Anyone thinking about taking a holiday need to consider Thailand, it honestly has something for everyone and we can’t wait to go back.   

Siem Reap

Everyone seems to visit this town for one reason; it is the gateway to Angkor.

We arrived in Siem Reap at around 4pm and as advised we headed straight to Angkor and the temple to watch the sunset. We were racing against time as the sun seems to go down so quick in Asia, all of a sudden at around 17:45 it is dark. We were told to head to Phnom Bakheng a magnificent temple which stood at the top of a high heel (the highest point in Angkor) and it faced west, prefect spot for a sunset. We along with hundreds of other were rushing up the hill, feeling things getting darker made us start running, but we eventually got there. We got to the temple and queue to climb to the top of the temple seemed impossibly long. With a bit of positive thinking we stayed in the queue and were one of the last few to be allowed to climb the extremely steep stairs and watch the sky turn pink, orange and eventually black.

We were to have a very early start the next day to make the most of our time. We wanted to see the famous sunrise over Angkor Wat. To ensure we were there in plenty of time our driver picked us up at 4:45. Our tuctuc driver was fabulous, he charged us just $12 and spent the whole day with us, from sunrise to sunset, taking us miles to see what we wanted to see, explaining so well what we were looking at. We arrived at Angkor Wat in darkness and in our excitement we forgot a torch, so finding somewhere to sit to take it all in was challenging. We found a perfect spot to sit down with plenty of time to spare. There really was the strangest atmosphere, we both felt butterflies and amazements as we sat waiting, sipping our coffees and watching the sun reveal the temples beauty. The feeling is unlike any other and trying to explain it just won’t do it justice. It is the kind of place that just needs to be seen to be understood, we really felt like we had experienced something wonderful.

The other benefit of being up stupidly early was beating the crowds. We got to wonder around the largest religious structure in the world and at times we felt completely alone, like we had one of the wonders of the world all to our selves, it was just magical. The calm didn’t last too long as more and more people began to arrive at a more human hour.

We were next taken to Bayon which we remember as the temple with the faces. The temple is held up by 54 towers which at the time represented the 54 provinces of Cambodia, since then the number of provinces has reduced as they merge into fewer bigger areas, and some land taken by neighboring countries. Each of the towers was decorated with smiling faces that we are told bare a resemblance to the king who built it. There are an incredible 11,000 faces in total.

Next was Baphuon, which we remember as the "puzzle" temple. This temple was taken to pieces before civil war broke out by archeologist. During the war and the Khmer Rouge the plans of how to put Baphuon were destroyed and putting it back together seemed impossible. However after years of research in 2008 it was completed and back open to the public. Some pieces of the "puzzle" can still be seen lying around the grounds, we think it maybe a working process for some time.

We saw many more temples throughout the day, each having a different unique quality from the last. One of our favorites was Ta Prohm which has to be seen to be believed (Hope our photos do it some justice). This temple was built in 1186 and it would seem it was been abandoned since then. It is an example of the force of nature as the jungle has taken over it. Years ago birds and animals must have dropped seeds into the grounds and over the years a jungle has formed. The trees have literally grown between the walls, the roots of the trees so strong and deep, the walls of the temple are left crumbling. Feeling like Lara Croft wasn’t out of place as we later found out it was used as a set for Tomb Rader.

Siem Reap did have other things to offer, they hosted a lovely market which we loved and grabbed a few bargains. They also had "Pub Street" Siem Reaps answer to Bangkok’s" Kho San Road", we felt very at home enjoying many a happy hour cocktail and beer.

No trip to Asia is complete without watching the sun rise over the Angkor Wat. There is no doubt in our minds that we were extremely lucky to witness one of the 7 wonders of the world. It has left us hungry to see the other 6 if this is anything to go by, we won’t be disappointed.