This morning, we woke up, had breakfast, and headed out exploring. Since my arm got burnt through the window on the awful bus journey, I had to keep covered up. And the weather was so hot! We stumbled upon Fort Cornwallis, the largest fort in Malaysia, and decided to check it out. The fort was named after the late 18th century governor-general of Bengal, India, Charles Cornwallis. It was originally built from palm trunks in 1876 by Sir Francis Light, to protect Penang from pirates and the north-western peninsular state of Kedah. In 1804, however, it was rebuilt using bricks and stone, reaching completion in 1810. There was once a moat surrounding the structure, but due to a malarial outbreak in the 1920s, it was filled in. In its entire history, Fort Cornwallis never engaged in ... read more

Well, I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth our journey from Ao Nang to Koh Phangan was. We started out at 6am on Sunday morning, and it took around seven hours in total, but there was very little waiting around and we were promptly met from the boat by the Milky Bay Resort staff. We paid for a garden-view bungalow, but we're so close to the beach, it could technically be classes as sea-view. Our bungalow is beautiful! We spent the afternoon on the beach. I walked out a few hundred meters in the sea, and the water never reached my hips. Bliss. In the evening, we attempted to walk into town but ended up taking a taxi half-way because it's so far. We ate at a western restaurant/pub, then walked back. It took over an ... read more

We took our afternoon flight down to Phuket on Tuesday, and after a quick bite to eat, my brother, Tony, came to meet us for a drink at our hostel (Bodega) bar. He entertained us with stories of his travels, and later, we (along with Marion - a fellow traveller from our hostel) went and joined him, John, Bartley and some of their friends from their hostel (Kool Backpackers). Kool Backpackers is run by a guy named Ang, who seemed really nice and had a wicked sense of humour. He often sat chatting with his guests, giving off a really welcoming vibe. The hostel is based on the hectic bar street, Bangla Road, where hundreds of touts promote 'ping-pong' shows - women doing bizarre things with ping-pong balls, and - as I was later advised - ... read more

On Saturday, we sampled some delicious Pad Thai from a street stall on Khao San Road (despite my dodgy tummy), and Edithe was coaxed into having her 'future' read down a side alley by one of many Indian guys stalking the street. Of course, she wasn't silly enough to pay for the 'services', so she left, not knowing what her future holds. Next, we heeded over to the aquarium. I love aquariums, but since my shark dive in Busan Aquarium (Korea), they'll never hold the same allure. You just can't beat being on the same side of the glass as the sharks. Collecting our baggage from the hostel, we made our way to the train station for our pre-booked 18:10 train to Chiang Mai. Unfortunately, all the first-class sleepers were sold out, so we had to ... read more

On Thursday morning, we arose early to take the tuk tuk to the Angkor temple complex. We had hoped to take a hot air balloon ride before exploring the temples on foot, but the balloon was out of service for the day, so that idea went out the window. Angkor Wat, aka 'City of Temples', is the largest religious monument in the world, lying just a few miles north of Siem Reap. It was built in the 12th century, and shifted from Hindu to Buddhist use some one hundred years later. After many years of looking at pictures of Angkor Wat, here I was, standing in front of this magnificent structure in the blistering heat. I'll admit though, the weather did lessen my enthusiasm. Approaching Angkor Wat, however, Edithe spotted what she initially thought were cats, ... read more