We left Gympie fully intent on staying in Brisbane. We'd already picked out a rough destination of Manly Harbour just to the east of the city, and i was planning on attending my first A-League 'soccer' match on the Sunday. I'd even spent most of my time in Gympie researching my new team 'Queensland Roar'. But as we approached Brisbane, it became clear that it would be difficult to visit the major cities whilst we still had the car, and seeing as i will be heading back up the coast next year in the winter, we decided to make the most [View Full Entry]

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Our last day in Singapore was spent mainly filling time, so it was a relief to finally be off to the airport at 9pm. Our first flight of the trip. We checked in, and waited for our flight. After a small delay we were on board and as we were flying overnight (we took off at midnight) the plan was to get as much sleep as possible so as not to write off the first day in Australia. But we unexpectedly had our own personal tv's so i set about watching 3 films in a row (In Bruges, Tropic Thunder and [View Full Entry]

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Monday 24th November - Day 85 - We arrived in Singapore at about 6pm. We made it!!! Despite not quite going to plan (losing the car after a couple of days, going through Vietnam and Cambodia instead of Laos, and losing Adelle along the way) we have travelled from London to Singapore without flying. Hurrah! We left Kuala Lumpur at 10am that day. We were supposed to arrive in Singapore in mid-afternoon but unfortunately we had an incompetent driver who must have had a weak bladder as all we seemed to do was stop for toilet breaks. But eventually we were [View Full Entry]

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We spent two more nights in Ipoh and each day seemed to mirror the last. It's not really a place for tourists so aside from a brief wander around the streets we re-visited the cinema each night until we had exhausted their supply of films. Strangely, the price changes each time you go, but it's still cheap. On the last night i was wandering back to the hotel and got chatting to the guy who works there. He too was called Pete and the fact we had the same name as each other seemed to please him so he invited me [View Full Entry]

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Our ferry from Koh Samui was at last a proper car ferry. No more sea sick passengers as we previously had on the smaller ferries. We soon arrived back on mainland Thailand and were taken to the bus station in Surrathani (possibly spelt wrong). We decided to go to Hat Yai as it was a fair way south, and we've hardly moved geographically over the last 2 weeks and also we were told it has good transport links to the Malaysian border. The bus journey wasn't one of the best. We were only in a mini-bus and first of all we [View Full Entry]

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Sunday 16th November - We got up early(ish) to take advantage of the free breakfast one last time and booked ourselves on the midday ferry to Koh Samui. It was only a short journey - in fact you could see the island quite clearly from where we were previously staying. We didn't have a plan of where to go this time so we just seeked advice from the first person who offered us a taxi. Our only request was somewhere quiet and less touristy where we'd be away from annoying holidaymakers!! We certainly got that as we were taken to a [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday November 11th - Today we moved to the larger island of Ko Pha Ngan. It is only 35km south of Ko Tao and took about an hour and a half by ferry. As we left Ko Tao, most of the roads were under water and we decided that if the weather continues like this then we will move on again quickly even though we have paid for 5 nights in advance. Once we arrived on the island we were shown to our bungalow. I'd say it's more of a shed than a bungalow. It has a bed in it. And [View Full Entry]

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It's now Saturday 8th November. We arrive at Ko Tao yesterday after one of the longest journeys ever. It began the day before that at 6pm. Our bus arrived on time to pick us up from Bangkok. It was not a sleeper bus. I didn't manage to get any sleep on the long trip to Chumphon, where we would change to get a ferry. We arrived in Chumphon an hour earlier than expected, at 3am. We were then told to wait here until 6am for our ferry. At this time, another short bus journey to the port took us to our [View Full Entry]

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Monday 4th November - We already decided we'd stay in Bangkok for just 2 nights. This would give us enough time to sort out some laundry, have a day to see the city and plan our route through Thailand. On the first night we visited a tourist information shop and intended on booking a short bus trip to Hua Hin. However, the woman recommended we head straight to Ko Tao as from there we can easily get across to Ko Pha-Ngan for the Full Moon Party. So we've booked to leave Bangkok on the 6th November. We will arrive in Ko [View Full Entry]

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Monday 3rd November - We left Saigon for Cambodia on the Monday morning. Another border crossing as we left Vietnam. It was relatively pain free as the authorities took and filled in your passport for you, whilst dropping you somewhere to eat as you waited. If only all crossings could be as accomodating. We arrived in Phnom Penh in the early evening. Paul has a few malaria tablets left and has decided to hang back in Cambodia for a few more days to see more of the country. Myself and Nance immediately went and booked a bus ticket to Bangkok for [View Full Entry]

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