Mandy Segar
To be edited later.....I have taken a 12 month career break and start my travels on 20 Jul 11, to embark on a journey of self discovery and cultural enlightenment...with me, myself and my backpack. MandyMadness
I'm still debating if putting my career on halt, losing a wage for a year and leaving my loved ones is courageous or madness...I'm sure my feelings on the matter will change frequently. Ok, the truth is that I'm very excited and definitely think that life's an adventure and you only live once, so I'm trying to live it! I'm away from home for 10 months in total and will be exploring South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. I know that my perspective on life will change for the better and will frame the way I spend it when I get home.
I already miss my family and friends just at the thought of being away but I rely heavily on Skype to keep the home sickness at bay, it is only 10 months after all.
As a girl whose cosmetics bag is usually the size of an average suitcase, wish me luck! Step one of the pre flight preparation is to pack my backpack.....
Travel Blog Posts
September 22nd 2011
4 dollars and 4 hours to Battembong (aka Battambang) and we’d arrived (I travelled with one of the friends I made in Siem Reap). The journey was actually really enjoyable because you get an uninterrupted glimpse into the way of life, you don’t see anything on night buses. Travelling has opened my mind to trying new food and accepting different ways of life, good or bad. However, when stopping at the local break stops on local buses and confronted with burnt skinny chickens hanging from a stand with some stray hairs sticking out and various trays of fried insects, my mind closes pretty quickly, not so much because of what it is, it just looks so damn unappealing, always dark, crispy looking and hairy or leggy. When we arrived at the bus station, in fact, about ... read more
September 19th 2011
The night bus to Siem Reap was surprisingly comfortable, that is, if you ignore the broken air con vents which blasted down on me for the whole journey. I had my soft shell on, a scarf and a blanket and I was freezing. Other than that though, it was a comfy sleeper bus, the first in Cambodia apparently and it only cost me 14 dollars. When you get local bus’s the rest stops are all local places and there’s only so long that you can hold your bladder! I hate having to use the toilets, which are on the floor with a bucket of water next to you, no where to put your bag and the floor is always a couple of cm deep in water. I hate it. My biggest recommendation to female travelers, is ... read more
Phnom Penh S21 Genocide Museum, Killing Fields and Sihanoukville
Published: September 24th 2011Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh
September 14th 2011
I got the night bus to Bangkok from Koh Phangan with some of the guys from my resort; it was so nice having easy company. I was especially grateful when the guy I sat next to even let me sleep on him so I was more comfy. You really appreciate silly things like this and it meant I managed to get some sleep for a change. I had booked my flight to Phnom Pehn for the morning my night bus arrived in Bangkok, which in hindsight was a stupid idea. Although I slept, it wasn’t that much so I felt grubby and tired when arriving at Bangkok. My skin was feeling the effects of too much sun and drinking so I had a 9 step face massage for the equivalent of 5 pounds! I also managed ... read more
Party Time on Koh Phangan
Published: September 21st 2011Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Pha-Ngan
September 9th 2011
I had a preconceived idea that Koh Phangan would be the kind of party island that I would hate, the idea of so many people at the parties, stories of drugs and accidents, this list is endless. The Lonely Planet even put me off. But, I was wrong. I have had the most amazing week here. I think if you have some sense about you and know your limits then you can have an amazing and safe time here. I started with a luxury 2 nights (flash deal on Agoda) in Haad Salad at the Salad Buri Beach Resort and Spa. The resort was located on a small stretch of beach and was stunning. I had an amazing room with a bathtub, which had wooden windows so I could have a soak whilst watching a film. ... read more
VIP Bus, Koh Samui and My Birthday
Published: September 5th 2011Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Samui
August 28th 2011
Goodbye hustle and bustle and hellooo another island. There's a theme forming here. My next intended destination after Bangkok was Chiang Mai, however, the northern part of Thailand was hit with heavy flooding so it seemed pretty inconsiderate to travel there when the locals are struggling with the damage caused by the flooding. In fact, I was surprised that other tourists were still planning to go there in the midst of recent events. I could have re-routed my journey but instead I decided to go south to Koh Samui - I missed the sun and space. This time, I got the Government VIP Bus from the Southern Bus Terminal. I have already experienced the VIP night bus but this time I was excited because the VIP Government Bus only had about 20 seats and was a ... read more
A Luxury Treat in Railay and Khao San Road
Published: August 30th 2011Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Railay
August 21st 2011
Have you ever noticed how quickly a tan fades? We get such a boost when we are sun kissed, be it golden brown, a little red or just offish white, it seems to be as effective as a new haircut and colour when your confidence needs a vein boost. There's no harm in it either, especially if it works, like the instant feel good feeling when eating chocolate. I digress. After 4 nights on Koh Lanta, without any sun, we were lacking this feel good factor and of course the tan factor (ah vanity, alive and well). So we decided to return to the other coast where the sun has a better track record this time of year. We paid for our tickets for the arduous journey back to Koh Tao, there's no harm in returning ... read more
The Roundhouse and Emerald Cave
Published: August 28th 2011Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Lanta
August 9th 2011
After a fabulous week or so on Koh Tao, where the sun shone all day, every day, the Western Coast was calling. The boat was scheduled to leave Koh Tao at about 2100 so by 203O we were on board bent in half walking along the low roofed upper deck to our 'beds'. It was a night ferry and in summary it has 2 decks and the upper deck just had plastic mattress type things along each side with a number on the side to denote your bed space. To be honest I'm uncomfortable sleeping that close to a partner in bed let alone strangers! No sprawling tonight. We were all sat/lay in our spaces anticipating our departure- some people weren’t lay in very flattering or decent positions/clothes, if you know what I mean. After a ... read more
August 6th 2011
I learnt how to dive with Big Blue, probably the largest diving school on Koh Tao and although they do churn people through at a quick rate, it felt comfortable and they looked after you. On night one we had a briefing and watched some videos, followed by homework! It's been quite a while since I did homework but for a change, I was intersted in the topic. It was to test that we had read the reading materiel, which was quite important as you can imagine. I'm not sure if it was re-assuring to learn about diving risks before going or if it made it more daunting. We read about the problems that can occur, which was a little frightening. That is, until you realise that the majority of problems will be your own fault ... read more
August 1st 2011
Where to start! After Alex arrived and we had a nice chilled out evening at an airport hotel, I had to break the news that somehow our flights due to depart for Phuket the following morning were actually only departing on 21 Aug! Oopsy daisy, looks like I messed up with the dates but the saving grace is that it was my treat so the damage was limited, I am such a plonker sometimes. We returned to the airport the morning that we should have flown to Phuket (as we had a free airport shuttle) and got the train to Bangkok City. I couldn't resist but smile at the surprise on Alex's face when the rain just wouldn't subside, it poured down. I felt reassured that my slight moans at constant rain some days was justified. ... read more
July 30th 2011
Wow, what an amazing day! I'writing this blog about a week after the jungle trek, but I will write from my memories of how I felt on the day. Firstly, I had a poorly tummy on the morning of my planned trek - being alone is unhelpful when poorly as I had to force myself to get up and dressed to try and reschedule rather than lose out and lose my money (tip- have a first aid bag, you will use it!). The pickup truck arrived and the driver was the jungle man (wow), he said he was fully booked the following day and the companies don't do refunds, thankfully, he saw I was poorly and when I explained that the following day was my last day he allowed me to join in despite being over ... read more
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