vodka donna

I was so sad to say goodbye to Koh Phangan as I had such an amazing time, but I was coming back to the island for me and Nat's honeymoon, so it wasn't goodbye for long. Plus now I had something amazing coming up - the wedding!!! I could barely contain my excitement, the day was finally nearly here!!! After saying our goodbyes to Karla (the person that helped run Lighthouse Bungalows) we were on our way to Koh Samui. When we arrived Beckie, Kate and Sam headed off towards Cheweng as they were staying at Jungle Club, high in the jungle above Cheweng and me, Nat and Lisa went in the opposite direction towards Maenam, which was supposed to be a lot more chilled out than Cheweng (no late night venues, no McDonalds etc) and ... read more

It was Songkran on 13th April, so I'm a bit late writing this blog, but its been a busy few days what with Lisa, Beckie, Kate and Sam arriving. Great to see everyone! Back to Songkran though. What an amazing day!!! I wasn't sure whether to go to Thong Sala, the capital of Koh Phangan to celebrate Songkran as my foot was supposed to be kept dry and I wanted to heal as quickly as possible. However it soon became clear than even just going to a restaurant for lunch was going to result in me getting drenched, even if I stayed in Haad Rin, which isn't even the main place they celebrate it here. So I made a makeshift cover for my foot out of a plastic bag and me and Nat headed to Thong ... read more

Well I finally made it back to Thailand and I was shocked by the heat and the smell that hits you the minute you step off the plane. Its like a hot, but sweaty oven. But as I looked around at all the colour and chaos of Bangkok I felt like I'd come home. Just walking through arrivals gate i noticed lots of Thai girls (or were they Thai boys?) dressed up for a festival. In 3 days time it is due to be Songkran, one of Thailands biggest celebrated festivals. It is Thai New Year from 13th-15th April quite a lot of the country celebrates this by having a massive waterfight. It started off traditionally as a much more subdued water ceremony with only a few drops splashed, but has degenerated into massive water fight ... read more

On www.travelfish.org I'd read about a homestay experience that sounded interesting. A couple, Don and Kheang offered an experience to see what rural life is like in Cambodia and the reviews of the experience had been great, so when I arrived in Phnom Penh I rang Don and organised a visit. Don is an American that's settled down in Cambodia, with his Cambodian wife and two children Ra and Na. They are a really interesting couple that have both had fascinating lives and it was just so interesting hearing their stories!! Kheang had actually been alive while PolPot was in charge, so had seen a lot of hardship and a lot of change in Cambodia. When I arrived, so I could see a bit of typical Cambodian scenery and also get a bit of an insight ... read more

My adventure to the Mekong Delta began in Saigon on New Years Eve. All the budget tour companies offer trips to the Mekong Delta, finishing in Phnom Penh - some of them for as cheap as $26 for a 3 day trip. However I decided I wanted to see as much scenery as possible, so I booked my tour with Delta Adventures, as they leave Saigon by boat instead of by bus, also the journey to Cambodia is mostly by boat instead of by bus, so I would see a lot more scenery than with the super cheap tour companies. The first day we set off on the Saigon river on a small wooden boat and headed off towards My Tho, our first destination. I was surprised to see how poor all the people living along ... read more