Jess Pudney

pudneys do asia

Jess Pudney

After getting married in Cape Town, SA - we decided not to return to the UK, but take a few months to travel around South East Asia...what a honeymoon! Hope you enjoy as much as we are!



Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué July 1st 2010

So me, Shaun Pudney has been commsioned to finally have some imput into our big trip blog. So here goes... We caught a flight from Vientiane to Hanoi the capital of Vietnam. As we couldn't handle the 36 hours of bus over the mountains with a overloaded bus and half a chicken farm sitting on our laps. We arrived into Hanoi city in the early evening with our taxi driver trying to rip us off (and succeding) and droping us a few blocks away from where we wanted to go. It was only about 43c so walking the extra 15 minutes with our backpacks really wasn't too much of a bother........We finally made it to our hotel in between all the millions of motor bikes and maddness of the city. A bowl of pho later and ... read more
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Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang June 18th 2010

We said goodbye to Chaing Mai and sadly to Thailand and drove 6 hours to the border and met some cool people enroute...2 Kiwi guys Chris and Mike and 2 Israeli Guys all of us doing the same thing. Turns out Chris and Mike had just had a serious motorbike accident and were showing off there festering wounds to us! We made it to the border town and stayed there the night. The next day we sped through immigration and jumped aboard our slow boat to Laos! Shaun and I had premium seats...bags of rice! They kind of molded to the shape of your bum and we were also able to lie down using them as a pillow - a luxury many of the other 40-ish people on board didn't have. We shunned buying cushions on ... read more
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our boat
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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai June 13th 2010

Trekking, cooking and chilling in Chaing Mai After 36 hours, we finally arrived in Chaing Mai. Chaing Mai is great and we really loved it. Sorry for the lack of detail in this blog, but it was around a month ago that we were there and the details are fading!!!! We decided to do a Hill Tribe Trek and booked through our lovely travel agent! I felt really sorry for everyone in Chaing Mai - there were hardly any tourists around because of all the riots and political unrest in Thailand. No tourists = no money, so actually ended up getting really good deals on the trip, and on our accommodation. So we booked our trip and eventually decided on the 2 day/1 night adventure! I was keen to do two nights, but then again, I ... read more
Yummy yummy food!
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Monks

Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Pha-Ngan June 5th 2010

Fun and Full Moon Party on Koh Pha Ngan We arrived on Koh Pha Ngan at Haad Rin, the famed location of the Full Moon Party which happens (funnily enough) on the night of the Full Moon each month on the beach at Haad Rin. Although we still like a party, Shaun and I decided against staying at Haad Rin, as we wanted to be at a nice beach, with the ability to sleep and sunbake without thousands of teenagers running around drunk and disorderly (the disgrace!). Anyway, we'd heard from good sources that Thong Nai Paan was a nice spot on the north eastern part of the island and so that's where we headed. About an hour journey later on the back of a ute, we arrived! It was beautiful, just what I'd expected. We ... read more
too many buckets?
thai friends
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Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Samui June 5th 2010

Poshing it up in Koh Samui So we are waaaaaaaaaaaaay behind in our blog entries, sorry everyone. It's tricky as internet costs a bit and usually it's more the time that we don't have to write it all up and more so, upload the photos. Anyway Koh Samui....aaaah the hotel we stayed in Koh Samui!!!! We were lucky enough to get a 5 star plus plus hotel through work for penuts in Koh Samui, just near Lamai which is about 15 minute drive from the crazy Chewang (party) town. Basically, our two nights and three days on Koh Samui included enjoying and eating as much of the free breakfast as possible as late as possible (so not to have to buy lunch!), sipping cocktails by the infinity pool, resting in the luxury of our a/c room ... read more
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Our deck chairs!

Asia » Philippines » Legaspi May 21st 2010

Woohhhhooo - Whale Sharks After leaving Palawan, we flew back into Manila and spent an afternoon of Westernisation (I know, sad...but we were only really after the air-con!). We headed to the Mall of Asia and went to the movies! Saw some stupid American comedy - stupid, but chilled out for a few hours. Ashamed to admit it, but we then ate McDonalds! Our overnight bus journey departed at 7pm, so we headed to the bus station and the bus left right on the dot. They showed a movie on board (Bedtime Stories, way better than the one we saw at the cinema!) and then we popped one of the 'little yellow pills' and tried to sleep. I managed to get quite a bit. We arrived in Legaspi - and were both dead. Even though we ... read more
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The Beautiful Whale Shark!
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Asia May 12th 2010

What a wonderful world 5 hours of Shaun being stuck in the back corner of an overloaded mini van and we finally arrived into El Nido. We searched around for a place to stay, and after being way to hot and sweaty to look any more - we decided on a place in the middle of town. It was ok, but the road it was on was so stinky it made me dry reach every time I walked past. Drying fish maybe...who knows? We chilled out for the afternoon and at the blessed time of 2pm - on comes the electricity (meaning we have fan power!). The electricity in El Nido is only on from 2pm - 6am each day, so before and after that - there's nothing to cool you down except for a cold ... read more

Asia May 11th 2010

Philippine Highway Manila and Puerto Princesa - 7th May to 10th May We arrived into Manila, the city of smog, pollution and Chowking chain restaurants! Our one night in the city consisted of a cheap room in a dodgy area, cheap beers that weren't really that cheap and walking in and out of dodgy allyways. Our plan was to leave Manila first the in the morning, and catch the bus to Donsol to snorkel with the Whale Sharks...we headed to the bus station and found out that all the buses were full and we couldn't leave Manilla - well to Donsol anyway. It turns out the election was on (on Monday) and so every Phillipino and his dog was heading to their home to town to vote...hence the bus madness. So basically, we re-arranged all ... read more
Anthony & Alli
The beautiful blue
On the Boat

Asia » Malaysia May 6th 2010

Kuala Lumpur - in a luxury hotel We arrived into KL on Tuesday morning, after a long flight from Cape Town. The flight itself wasn't so bad at all, just the time difference that killed us. Our thought was to get some sleep on the plane, and we'd be fine arriving into KL - but after food, watching Avatar and a series of 'Tetris battles - first to 15 wins' - sleep was all but optionless. So we arrived at 6am - dead tired but lucky enough to be booked into a 5 star hotel in the centre of the city. After trying to force away the sleep deprivation by wondering around, it all kicked in and we fell asleep on our king size bed under the cool breeze and soothing hum of the airconditioning! 6 ... read more
Don't stand on the toilet seat...
KL night vision
Twin Towers

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape May 2nd 2010

Cape Town, a wedding and a sad goodbye. After leaving London for a final time, we headed across Africa to Shaun's home - Cape Town. It's our third trip to this beautiful city since we've been together, but it's just as special each time we arrive. This time was different, we were also getting married here! We had 4 weeks in Cape Town before the wedding on the 10th April, and spent most of this time topping up the tan on the beach and finalising wedding stuff! Most of our tanning time was at our favourite beach - Bukoven Beach, wow what a place. We also spent loads of time on the West Coast at the little spot called Elands Bay! Shaun surfed and surfed and surfed some more and definatley got his fix! The wedding ... read more
Shaun enjoying his feet in the water!
Bakover Beach
Camps Bay




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