http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/suomi gal/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from suomi gal en-us Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:07:53 BST Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:07:53 BST On the 7th of September 2006 I arrived back in Finland I hadn't told anyone in Finland that I was returning and so when I jumped off the bus near my house I was quite excited to walk in and surprise my parents. However...as I walked toward my street I saw my dad's car turn into the main road. After checking it really WAS his car I started waving my arms turns out both my parents were on http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Finland/Southwest-Finland/Turku/blog-88532.html Back to Europe. Wow. After nearly a year on the road I am back to where I started from. I remember how excited I was before my trip started talking to Adriana the night before my flight to Delhi about all the places I wanted to see and the people I was bound to meet. Honestly the trip went far beyond my expectations. But back to my last days in Bangkok. After Wolfgang left for Cambodia I s http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/London-City/blog-88521.html Back to the sights and sounds of Khao San Road. The sights consist of the Thai women dressed in tribal attire walking around with their wooden frogs the thousands of Pad Thai stalls and the numerous colorful stalls that yell out for you to buy buy buyyyyyyyy. The distinct sound of Khao San Road is a conglomeration of pop music from the music stalls the icecream truck the 'just have a look ma' http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-84136.html The train to Kota Bharu was perfect second class sleeper train had beds with little curtains on the side. I was so exhausted after our 5 hour hike that I crashed the second my head hit the pillow. It was perfect. I had a good 5 hours of sleep until we came to our destination. We ended up getting off at a station before Kota Bharu so that we could share a cab with the french boys who were also http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Terengganu/Perhentian-Kecil/blog-82923.html I finally made it to Koh Pha Ngan after a long bustaxitrainboat trip. Leaving the Perenthians was tough...I really enjoyed my time there. When we first arrived here Keith and I found the guesthouse where Tom and Sarah were staying. I decided to drop my bags off in their room and head to the main tourist part of the island called Had Rin. Keith found a bungalow on the beach where the others we http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/South/Ko-Pha-Ngan/blog-81462.html The trip to Taman Negara National Park was a bit of a dissappointment. We had heard some great things about 'The Jungle Train' which was supposed to give you some amazing views of the Malaysian Jungle. To me it seemed like just an ordinary train. Except for the fact that it stopped at 5 minute intervals. So if someone tries to sell you the Cameron Highlands Taman Negara extortionately priced http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/blog-78979.html I've had such a great time during my two days in Tanah Rata It is such a laidback town with great weather. The funny thing is 'great weather' is now defined as cool clean mountain air with a lovely breeze. That's what happens after spending a month in 30 sun The first morning in the dorm I realised why Allison had been complaining about the amount of sleep to be had in the mornings....every http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Pahang/Tanah-Rata/blog-77991.html I've arrived in Kuala Lumpur The bus ride from Singapore went smoothly took a bus to the border and then another to Kuala Lumpur. On the way had a look at the Lonely Planet and chose a hostel named Pudu Hostel close to the bus station where I was arriving. The hostel turned out to be really good. I love the fact that Malaysia and Singapore have hostels for single backpackers it makes meeting http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Selangor/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-77963.html My trip to Hat Yai didn't quite go according to plan. The busferryminibus experience to Hat Yai went well met some other backpackers on their way to Malesia. However I was the only one staying on the Thai side of the border...when we arrived in Hat Yai a lady from the travel agency where we were dropped off asked whether I was continuing on to Malaysia. Now while travelling everyone is con http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Singapore/blog-77104.html If anyone is heading to Koh Samui and is in need of a bit of a rest I would definitely recommend choosing Mae Nam Beach. It is a small pictoresque beach which is hidden by the loud main street parallel to the beach. Once you get on the beach it's like finding a hidden treasure The 2 days that I have spent here have been full of reading sleeping and long talks. On my first day one of the f http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/South/Ko-Samui/blog-76184.html The next morning Tom and I woke up surprisingly early due to an early morning power cut which caused the fan in our room to stop turning When I stepped out of our room I was hit with beautiful SUNLIGHT It turned out to be the warmest day I had experienced in SE Asia. After breakfast we decided to head straight to the water for a swim and a bit of sunbathing. We stayed there till about mid http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/South/Ko-Samui/blog-75902.html My journey to Koh Tao started with a 9 hour bus journey from Bangkok to a town called Chumpon. I sat next to an English guy Ant who was on his way down to do some volunteer work for a town north of Phuket which is still having restoration work done for the effects of the tsunami. We had a good time chatting on the bus and watching the ever so thrilling 'xXx II'. At 3 AM the people heading for Ko http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/South/Ko-Tao/blog-74571.html Yesterday everything started to fall back into place again. In the morning I met a tuktuk driver who I had talked to the previous day and he promised to take me around town for free if I promised to go to a few tailor shops and travel agents. This is because some stores work on a commission where the driver receives free petrol cards if they bring a tourist to the store. Knowing this saved me a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/blog-74244.html It's been a difficult day. I keep saying 'Sabaidee' the Laos greeting which I seemed to have become quite attached to and receiving confused looks until I realise my mistake and mutter 'Khrapkha' after a bit of deliberation. By last morning in Laos was a bit of a painful one. I went to the police station to get an official notice in english to go with my Luang Prabang statement. It took a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-73752.html The following day I went back to the police station where they informed me I would need to head to Vientiane to get a new passport. They told me passports get 'lost' in Laos quite often which was proven by the fact an English man was also in the police station reporting an identical theft. Once they had handed me an official police report of the incident costing 10000 kip 1 they attempte http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-73007.html Over to Laos. The morning after my last entry the group from the bus headed to the ThaiLaos border. Everything at the border went extremely smoothly most likely due to the very efficient lady at our guest house who had arranged our visas the night before. Although we had woken up at around 700 to catch the '830' slowboat...we were still at the boat terminal at 1130 waiting for the engin http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-72786.html PAI. excuse the pun but it's a true slice of heaven. The village of Pai is a small town in the northeastern part of Thailand which is surrounded by breathtaking mountains which hold a number of treasures waterfalls canyons kilometers on end of hiking trails and ofcourse...the hill tribes everyone must have seen pictures of Thai hill tribes nicknamed the 'Long Necks' due to the gold rings th http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/North/Chiang-Khong/blog-71268.html On Wednesday evening I boarded the bus to Chiang Mai. The bus was just as nice as they had promised unlike the 'VIP' buses in India. It was comfortable and they even showed a movie The bus ride ended up taking 12 hours rather than the expected 9...but that is to be....expected. I couldn't get myself into a comfortable position the whole time and I'm sure I kept the entire bus awake most of th http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/North/Chiang-Mai/blog-70613.html HAPPY 50th BLOG TO ME It's been tough but we've made it to 50 a big thank you to all those who have endured my ramblings for the past 9 months...it's been real. A cool banana experience. At the moment I'm taking shelter from the Thai SUN in a pleasantly airconditioned internet cafe. I've been walking around all day ALL DAY isn't so impressive when it's only 1435... but it's been HOT. I http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-70039.html Last night I endured the 9 hour journey from Sydney to Bangkok. Although everyone around me was complaining I can honestly say I LOVE flying. I didn't get a wink of sleep which I'm definitely feeling today but I was able to watch a lot of movies play tetris trivia games and listen to Jack Johnson. I think it's a great way to relax and just stay put. Although the lady next to me was quite http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-69660.html