Anitas Walkabout

Angkor Wat is by no means the only jewel in the ancient Khmers Empires crown with other temple treasures like Bayon and Ta Prohm you are hard pushed to see half the delights on a 3 Day Pass. This is especially the case if you are like us and decide to go by peddle power instead of tuk tuk which is admittedly a pleasant way to see the Angkorian delights and surrounding countryside but under the blazing sun it is a slow sticky way to work your way around the temples and it eats away valuable viewing time but for those on a shoes string budget it saves at least 14 USD daily. So we did two days by bike and on the last day we resorted to Tuk tuk to see as much as possible ... read more

Sometimes traveling on a budget just doesn't pay off. The Lonely Planet Guide called the road from the border to Siem Reap as The Boulevard of Broken Backsides and after a grueling 6 hours after crossing the border into Cambodia I understood why. We departed Thailand early in the morning to head to the border at Aranya Prathet (Thailand)/Poipot (Cambodia). The journey on the Thailand side was ok though we were crowded into a mini van but at least it was air conditioned and so the 5 hours passed in mild discomfort only. We made it to the border and our visas were sorted out by the guy from the tour company. Maybe warning bells should have started to ring at this point and probably would have if I read the The Bible better (aka Lonely ... read more

Well last few days in Thailand before my Visa runs out and I head to Cambodia. Spent most of the time just hanging out with my friends in Thailand rather than doing the tourist trail thing though there was a trip to look around the Siam area of Bangkok - the place for Shopping Malls and Shopping Plaza. But mainly my time has been spent in the very much not tourist area of Bangkok in the Laksi Area where my friends live and experiencing the local street market where we could buy fresh vegetables and meat if we felt like cooking or fresh cooked take-away if we didn't, getting a meal for less that 30 Bhat (50p) that would most of the time be enough for two meals. Street markets are ideal for those on a ... read more

Ko Pha Ngan is the Party island of Thailand hosting the famous or infamous Full Moon Parties at Haad Drin Beach but me and the gang arrived too late to experience the Full Moon Party which happened a week before on Christmas Eve but as the party island it seemed like the perfect location to see in the New Year. The Full Moon Parties are probably considered world's biggest beach party that is until your are their for New Year - a think the beach at Haad Drin hosted the biggest party in the Universe to see in 2008! From early evening the the beach became a swarming mass of drunk dancing revellers trying to wiggle their bootie on the over crowded beaches - moving to the deafening music from the multiple sound systems from the ... read more

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!......but this year with a difference. This was my first Christmas not spent with my family and it was definately going to be different having extended by travels and arranged to meet up with my friend Ricardo in Thailand. We met up a few days before Christmas and stayed at his friend's place (now my friend too) , Ben's. I was surprised and delighted to find that Thailand actually did celebrate Christmas having arrived with the impression that as a predominately Buddhist country there would be little or no sign of Christmas but how wrong can you be! Thailand was full of Christmas decorations and Ben's was not exception decorated with trees and stockings. Christmas started on Christmas Eve with a party at Ben's a buffet of food to line our stomachs and get ... read more