Page 4 of TheJetsetters Travel Blog Posts


Asia » Philippines » Cebu » Cebu City February 1st 2013

After taking our first plane for what seems like an eternity, we landed at Mactan-Cebu Island Airport just outside of Cebu City at 1.30am – This is located in the Visaya’s region of the Philippines where we had chosen to spend most of our time for the next 3 weeks. We quickly breezed through immigration and collected our bags before exiting the airport and after passing the tourists taxi’s which charge in the region of 3-4 times the price of local taxi’s we managed to find a nice driver who was willing to take us to our hotel in Uptown Cebu for the metered price. As we would be arriving fairly late and after not having a hot shower for a little over 2 weeks, we decided to push the boat out and stay in a ... read more
Iconic Magellan's Cross
Us in the grounds of Fort San Pedro
Basilica Santo Nino Church

Asia » Thailand » Eastern Thailand » Koh Chang January 31st 2013

With a few days to spare before our flight to the Philippines, we found ourselves back in Bangkok and after a 5 minute discussion on what to do with our time, we decided to go back to one of our favourite Thai islands, Koh Chang for a bit of R&R. We didn’t arrive into Bangkok until quite late, and as it was a Friday night the area which we usually stay in around Soi Rambuttri/Khao San Rd was packed. We went to 5 or 6 guesthouses and they were all full and we were starting to worry about finding a room when Scott eventually found us one at Bella Bella guesthouse. It wasn’t the best room we have ever had but it was fine for one night and it was cheap, so we checked in, showered ... read more
Ideal Thai meal from street stall - yummy
Enjoying a few drinks
Lovely waters

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng January 24th 2013

Approaching the half way mark in our travels, we had been remarkably lucky up until now that in 4 months on the road neither of us had fallen ill so far, aside from the odd headache, cold or itchy mosquito bite. Well that was all about to change... After a scenic but bumpy 5 hour mini-van ride from Luang Prabang, we arrived in what used to be known as the party town in Laos, the small dusty Vang Vieng. Previously infamous for it's tubing, partying and drinking, in recent months this has all changed after the government ordered that the riverside bars, where tuber's would over-indulge in potent Lao Lao whiskey all day then stagger back to town (if they made it back) had to close immediately and the town had to clean up it's act. ... read more
Evening sets in Vang Vieng
Tubing fun
Dusty road to Blue Lagoon - we walked this for 7km!

Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang January 18th 2013

We weren’t sure if we were going to visit Laos on this trip or not, as we had been before in 2010 and while we liked it, the country didn’t ‘wow’ us. However, we wanted to experience the slow boat from the Thai border and as we were in Northern Thailand with our visa about to expire, we thought ‘why not give it another chance?’. After 2 days on the slow boat we found ourselves in the UNESCO town of Luang Prabang in North-West Laos, and as the sun was setting over the Mekong we wondered around to find a guesthouse for a few nights. We couldn’t really remember where we had stayed before but soon found a nice place close to the main market street which had a friendly owner and was quite cheap so ... read more
Natural 'Blue' pools at Kuang Si
A resting monk
Sunset over the Mekong atop Mt Phu Si

Asia » Laos » West » Pakbeng January 15th 2013

Once we had managed to drag ourselves away from lovely Pai, we set our minds on leaving Thailand and heading overland into Laos, but first we had to get to the border. It worked out easiest for us to go back to Chiang Mai for one night, where we ate our way around the Sunday market and met up with a guy for drinks who we first met months ago in China, then leave the next morning for Chiang Rai and stay there for one night so we wouldn't have such a long journey to the border the next day. The bus to Chiang Rai took about 3 hours and we bumped into our Japanese friend Kayzo on the way, but the minute we arrived we didn't like the feel of the place. Massage shops and ... read more
Stunning scenery along the way
Bye Bye Thailand, Hello Laos!
Great river views

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Pai January 13th 2013

There is a lot of love for Pai in North West Thailand, and after spending a few days there it's easy to see why. The small town has so much to offer travellers with it's bohemian relaxed feel, cheap accomodation, good food, beautiful scenery and lots of activities around the area, we can't believe we haven't been before. Most people come for a couple of days and end up staying much, much longer as Pai is just so endearing and easy to hang out in. The mini-van journey there from Chiang Mai was pretty hairy with the driver going at break neck speeds the whole way and the 762 bends being very windy, luckily we didn't get travel sick like we heard many people do, and three hours later we had arrived on Pai's 'walking street'. ... read more
Elephant time
Sunset over Pai Canyon
More Pai love...

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai January 9th 2013

Our journey up North continues and after a 6 hour bus from Sukhothai we arrived into one of our favourite cities, Chiang Mai. We got a shared taxi into the old city and found a guesthouse we had stayed in before so checked in and had some very untraditional Thai food in the shape of pie and mash in an Irish pub round the corner – we love Thai food but now and again you need some proper carbs and Western fare in you! We relaxed for the afternoon before checking out the Sunday Walking Street Market in the evening which was great; a few roads are closed to cars and there are lots of food, clothes and home-ware stalls set up along the streets which you can spend hours browsing through. There are also some ... read more
Doi Suthep
Fresh Coconut
Colourful stone dragon

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Sukhothai January 5th 2013

After 2 weeks of Thai beaches, partying, eating and drinking far too much, we felt it was time for a change and so left Koh Phangan and headed up north. First we had to contend with a long 14 hour overnight journey back to Bangkok consisting of a rocky ferry and the most uncomfortable seats we have ever had on a night bus – we were stuck right at the back on hard seats which didn’t recline and you felt every bump so didn’t get much sleep. When we finally arrived into the southern bus terminal in Bangkok we got a mini-van to the northern bus terminal 45 minutes away then jumped on a local bus bound for the city of Ayuthaya, approximately 2 hours north of the city. Ayuthaya used to be the former capital ... read more
Buddha head in old tree
Old ruins
Us in the park

Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Pha-Ngan January 2nd 2013

Koh Phangan, once an idyllic island famed for it’s amazing turquoise waters sitting in front of a backdrop of white sand beaches and lush jungle. It was the destination of choice for long term backpackers and hippy ex-pats, who would once see out their whole allocation of Visa on this relaxed and remote island, some still do. It is now however more unfortunately known for its party scene and the monthly full moon parties. This lead’s me nicely on to the title of this blog; The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Good We disembarked from our ferry at Thong Sala pier in Koh Phangan at the re-scheduled time of 7am and thanks to the early arrival, the taxi mafia were still fast asleep so we had a relatively relaxing stroll to our pick-up ... read more
Amazing fireworks to welcome in the New Year
We managed to squeeze in some beach time
Great group at Ling Sabai . . and Joe the Ledge

Asia » Thailand » Eastern Thailand » Koh Chang December 26th 2012

Bangkok and Koh Chang – part 2 After a great first few days relaxing on the beach we decided to do another boat trip to visit a few other islands as the first trip was so good. We had taken it easy the night before so we were up early and after a quick breakfast we were picked up and taken to Bang Bao pier to get on the boat. The format was similar to the other boat trip we did, stopping at different islands and beaches to swim and snorkel throughout the day, with a delicious lunch on the boat in between. The staff were kitted out in Xmas outfits which was cute and again they were super friendly. The water was a bit choppier this time so while the snorkelling was still good it ... read more
Merry Christmas
Bucket fun
Xmas Eve hog roast




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