After 2 days in a guesthouse we have relocated to stay with a couch surfer in Phonm Phen. His house is literally a palace apartment where we are getting our own room and it feels excellent to have the comforts of feeling like you are home. Phomn Phen has all the luxuries of a big city but is still small enough to get round it in less than an hour. The popular area is by the Tonle Sap river and by the lake (where all the backpackers are located). We spent our first few nights having happy pizza by the river [View Full Entry]

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Kampot is a quaint town on the river. As the Lonely Planet states 'it's not a place to do, it's a place to feel', and that's exactly what we did. It feels like being in cottage country in Ontario. The town is small enough to explore by foot or bicycle, so we rented some bikes and rode around for a few hours before realizing the best view is of the river which has the Elephant mountains right behind it. All the main establishments are also located by the riverside where you can have a meal while the sun goes down. Kampot [View Full Entry]

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Getting to Kampot was quite the mission. First we had to get to Phonm Phen because the roads here are very limited. The bus from Siem Reap to Phonm Phen was local and loud with Cambodian pop music which is very unpleasant. On top of that the driver honks literally every 5 seconds to warn the motos on the side of the road. There is no chance to get shut eye on the 6 hour ride. Once in Phonm Phen we had to figure out how to get to Kampot which is 148km south of the capital. We had already missed [View Full Entry]

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The original plan was to get a 3 day pass to check out the temples but after talking to some other tourists I figured 3 days may become too much. In the end Hannah (whom I'm travelling Cambodia with) and I spent only about 4 hours checking out 3 temples - Angkor Wat, Bayon, and Ta Prohm. We hired a tuk tuk for the day and were simply exhausted. I have never encountered heat quite like I have in Cambodia; it is intense! Luckily I had bought a krama (Cambodian cotton scarf) at the market which is excellent as a scarf, [View Full Entry]

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The ride to Cambodia wasn't as bad as I had expected. While waiting for my 3:30 am bus departure at the Bangkok bus terminal I met Vlad, another traveller who was also travelling to Siam Reap. We were basically the only foreigners on the bus probably due to the early AM hours. It took 5 hours to the Thai border. From there we walked across, went through Thai immigration before stumbling upon the Cambodia visa center. Luckily I had gotten an e-visa because this whole overland crossing had me quite nervous from the start. Vlad had to get his visa though [View Full Entry]

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My island hopping in Thailand is coming to an end. I'm currently on Ko Samui which is the furthest south in the gulf of Thailand, and also the biggest and the most touristic. I have been here for 3 days and it's more than enough time here for me. There seems to be no such thing as budget accommodation, the beaches are filled with resorts. I'm staying in the north east part of the island on Big Buddha beach. There is no real beach here tho, a lot of piers and a big golden Buddha sits on the beach. I have [View Full Entry]

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Ko Phangan is the island paradise I have been seeking. I am staying with a couchsurfer who is kind enough to host 5 surfers at the same time in his one bedroom beach house. The house is located on Hin Kong bay which is on the west coast of the island, facing the ocean which means I wake up to the roaring of the waves. Just when I thought I had overcome a huge challenge with diving, I am face to face with yet again another new venture - driving a scooter! The island is small enough to see it all [View Full Entry]

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Ko Tao is the smallest of the 3 islands on the south east coast of Thailand, located in the gulf of Thailand. Even though it's the smallest, it's still rampacked with tourists. The main reason I came to this island is to complete my open water diving course, something that I have been meaning to do for a while now because a lot of the places I want to visit in the future are known for its dive sites. I got half price accommodation right off the beach because I'm doing a 4 day course. Although Ko Tao is small there [View Full Entry]

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Bangkok is chaos! There are people everywhere and so much people watching to do. I'm staying at a sweet hostel which is a bit pricey for Thailand ($10 a night) but it's got hot showers, AC and a duvet. Plus it's located in Silom which is accessible by metro while the west part of the city (where I was staying my first night) is not. You quickly find the divide in Bangkok; the west is a bit more slumish while the east is the commercial district filled with flashy shopping malls and the metro system which is actually not cheap. I [View Full Entry]

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I took a local train to the ancient capital of Ayuthaya today. The ride was supposed to take 2 hours but took much longer. I've learned that trains are not on time here. The train journey was somewhat comfortable but more can you expect for 30 cents!? Ayuthaya (named for the homeland of Rama) is an island about 60km north of Bangkok. It's a sleepy town with nothing more to do than see the sights and chill out by the river bank. I'm staying at an exceptional guesthouse right on the river for 10 bucks a night. It sleeps 3 but [View Full Entry]

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