Planning on taking a year out starting March this year. My route should take me through Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Oz, NZ & Fiji before coming home.
I only spent 2nights in Singapore, I arrived at the Sentosa Complex where I found out universal studios was sold out for the day and I decided to skip the zoo because of the ticket price and the transportation involved in getting there and back. I took a gander at orchard road, there were huge names trading there, again Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Bulgari, Ferragamo and some more all trading in malls which had other well known brands not excluding McDonalds and Starbucks. There’s no escaping them. Singapore could be fun if you were on a holiday or if you were a backpacker who owned a small country but failing that due to the cost involved in practically everything except breathing I didnt see or do much in Singapore and so I dont have a lot to ... read more
First thing in the morning I ran round to the Indian restaurant id frequented during my time in Kuala Lumpur, the guy at the hotplate saw me coming and I gave him a nod which meant his services were required, he knew I always went for either Roti Canai (Plain roti with curry sauce or a Banana roti). After breakfast I made a quick stop at the hostel and made my way to the nearest bus stop. I was sat on the local bus with just over an hour to go before my bus to Singapore would depart, the ride to the station took approx 25 mins and after sitting on the bus for 20 minutes I was getting antsy. Thankfully when I was just about to start gnawing off my hand the bus slowly rolled ... read more
By 10 am we were on the coach and departing Penang for Kuala Lumpur, it seems that all roads lead there, I wasn’t thrilled but it was only one night. As soon as we arrived at the bus station in Kuala Lumpur I arranged my bus ticket to Singapore a few days in advance, on my return to the hostel I checked in and arranged a trip for myself and the Australians i met (Megan and Simon) to go to Taman Negara national park. I contacted Sam, the girl I met in Laos and invited her to join us for dinner, when we met up I introduced Sam to her countrymen and we went for dinner in Kampung Baru, a spot none of them knew despite visiting Kuala Lumpur, we went for a few beers at ... read more
Rise and shine! Yet another early morning. Thankfully the ride to Penang went off without a hitch; in fact I arrived over an hour earlier than expected. Arriving in Georgetown I got the bus to Chinatown, the backpacker district. after the hassle of sorting out a room during the previous days I wanted to make things easier for myself so I booked a dorm room in advance in the cheapest place I could find, when I found the hostel the owner, a man called jimmy told me there were no dorms and instead I was getting a free upgrade to a private room. I dropped my bags and started talking to 2 guys in reception, 1 a Yorkshire lad the other a Dutchman. we all arrived within hours of each other and had a case of ... read more
Luckily since the lens of my camera had defogged itself in the hot room during the night I could take some snaps during my daytrip to Melaka. I left my bags in the lobby as I finally managed to sort out a dorm but before 12 no check-ins are permitted. I walked to the Carrefour for an ice coffee and the vendor next door who made my breakfast, Roti Pisang (banana Roti-similar to naan). The bus to the station took about half an hour, as soon as I got there I went to the ticket stand for transnational, a company recommended to me, I got my return ticket to Melaka and my ticket for Penang my next stop. I waited by the platform one of the station stewards pointed along the way pointed out. with 5 ... read more
I spent the afternoon planning out my stay in Malaysia, luckily Vijay and Viv who I’d spent the day with in Chengdu emailed with some pointers for things to see and do, they also suggested visiting both of Vijay’s brothers. I spent the evening wondering around the PETRONAS towers and KLCC mall. The towers were designed around Malaysian and Muslim principles with concentric circles. The shape of the towers is like the towers of the Angkor temples and given that they are the heart of a petrochemical giant they are probably worshipped by many in the same respect. The building is impressive in daylight with its ribbons of steel at every floor and double decker sky bridge 40 floors (100m high) but it is even more impressive at night when it is bathed in light and ... read more
As it turned out Sam and her friends were on the same flight. The flight to Kuala Lumpur was smooth, much better than I expected for a budget airline but Air Asia really came out with flying colours. For the first time in my life when I walked up to the baggage conveyor my bag was only 10ft from me so I was in and out in Jig Time. Alex and mark had a flight to Phuket 7 hours later and rather than waiting in the airport they came with me to the centre, dropped their bags in my room and we went to see the towers. We picked a coach company and took the 1hr ride to the central bus station and haggled a taxi to Chinatown where all the hostels are located. id looked ... read more
I left for Vientiane with Alex and Mark. When we arrived we headed for a hostel they’d stayed in before and one girl from the bus followed us. Sam was an Australian studying in Kuala Lumpur who’d taken a long weekend with some of her mates to Vang Vien but as the only girl she got a bit tired of the guys hitting on everything with a pulse so she left a day early to try and see something cultural during her stay there. We got two double rooms and didn’t see Alex and mark until the following morning when we were checking out. Sam and I went for a walk, didn’t see anything of note including the palace. When we confirmed there really wasn’t anything of note in walking distance we went for dinner. The ... read more
Vang Vieng is a river town once an idyllic spot, now famous for the backpackers that frequent the area to go tubing, in short floating down the river in rubber tube stopping at bars and houses down the river front to buy massive quantities of booze and play on death slides, some get their kicks from Marijuana and even Opium. I’ve nothing against a good drink with the right people but I can drink myself into a paralytic state any day of the week at home. Why goo the opposite end of the globe to spend a solid week in one spot doing nothing but trying to pickle yourself when there’s so much to see and do. I was going to the river to kayak through cave systems and hike the surrounding area and spend a ... read more
My last day in Cambodia was largely spent in an internet cafe and relaxing, I priced some bus tickets to Laos and then decided to go ahead with my plans to go there, I skipped some destinations in the South of Cambodia to allow some down time but as I liked the country so much I toyed with the idea of skipping Laos in favour of S Cambodia where I would also be closer to Kuala Lumpur. The flight prices were only 20 apart so cost wasn’t as big a factor as time or desire to go there, however everyone I met that visited Laos said it was a highlight of their trip so I decided to stick to my original plan and check it out. I had lunch in a restaurant while I organised my ... read more