Cambodia - Thailand (again) - Malaysia - Australia

Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Broome
May 2nd 2008

Published: May 2nd 2008

ok, it's been a while since my last update, and a lot has happened. Last I left off, I was in Nha Trang, Vietnam, heading off to Saigon. Well, I was in Saigon, and spent only a couple days there since my Vietnam visa was about to run out. I saw the war museum and some of the tunnels which the Viet Cong used during the war (those tunnels are incredibly small). Then it was off to Cambodia. Of all the countries I've visited, Cambodia is clearly the poorest. The road to Phnom Phen, the capital, was incredibly bad, with massive potholes everywhere. Phnom Phen was pretty much a shithole, with tiny rundown shacks for houses and garbage everywhere. Also, there was no organization to the city whatsoever. There was no grid pattern - roads were a random jumbled mess going in random directions, and only some of the streets even had names. Among it all, there were a few sprinkled large, luxurious houses and glitzy nighttime establishments. I only spent one night, and made my way down to Sihannoukville, a small backpackerish town at the coast. There I met up with a Swiss guy named Jonas I'd met in Laos. We got accomodations for just $5 US ($2.50 per person) right on the beach. The beach, by the way, was pretty spectacular. Perfect white sand so fine it squeaked when you walked on it. Beachside restaurants which set up comfortable chairs and tables on the beach, where you could enjoy a nice seafood meal BBQ'd right in front of you for just $5. Also a good nightlife with beachside bars rocking till late in the night. We got invited onto a "booze cruise" which took a group of young backpackers and a whole lot of booze on a boat to a remote beach. I also spent some time playing late into the night in some small poker tournaments going on (and won $75!). Overall, I really loved Sihannoukville.

After Sihannoukville, I went with Jonas up to Angkor Wat, which is the one really big tourist attraction in Cambodia. It's a "city" of ancient temples. To really see it all very well takes about a week, but we did as much as we could in a day. Pretty much the most exhausting day ever, with all the running around in the extreme heat. After that day I was pretty much templed out. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the temples because my camera ran out of memory at the very beginning of the day. I should be receiving photos from Jonas though.

Then it was back to Thailand for and onto the island of Koh Phagnan, where I met some American girls at my accomodations who I went with to the full moon party. For those who are unaware, the full moon party is Thailand's biggest party, a massive beach party taking place on Had Rin beach on the island of Koh Phagnan. The party takes place every full moon and attracts tens of thousands of people. It's huge. It goes on all night and into the next day (I stayed till after sunrise).

Me and the American girls, Jess and Elizabeth, at the Full Moon Party

Firebreather at the FMP

FMP

More FMP debauchery

FMP into the morning

After Koh Phagnan, I went with Jonas to Koh Tao, a small island near Koh Phagnan. This island is well-known as a good cheap place to scuba dive. I did some diving, and it was cheap, but it was not as good as Koh Phi Phi was. We stayed on Koh Tao for about 5 days. The island is nice, with good beaches and nightlife. I basically just chilled, enjoying the sun and beach.

It was then on to Malaysia, where we went to the Perhentian Islands. These islands were sunny with a nice beach, but very quiet. Since I'd had enough beach for a while, I stayed only a few days before moving on to the Malaysian interior and checking out the jungles of Tama Negara. This place is real jungle. I did a 2 day trek into the jungle with a Kiwi and English guy. It was very cool. We explored a cave with millions of bats in it. We were crawling in batshit at some points, with bats sleeping hanging upside down from the cave roof sometimes only inches above our heads. Also, some bats were inevitably awaken and started flying around our heads. Unfortunately my camera wasn't working at the time, but hopefully I'll get pictures from those guys. We also endured leeches sucking on our feet at some points during the walk. We stayed overnight at a saltlick, which was supposed to attract animals during the night which we could watch. Unfortunately none came.

After Tama Negara, it was on to Kuala Lumpur. This was a very neat city, with some huge constructions, such as a massive tower resembling the CN tower and nearing its size, as well as the huge Petronas Towers. I went up both of these, which gave good views of the city. There was also the Golden Triangle, which was a nice shopping district with lots of big malls, including a massive electronics mall. I spent about 3 days in Kuala Lumpur, then travelled to Singapore to catch my flight to Australia. I spent one day in Singapore. It's a big city, but doesn't seem to have much exciting stuff to offer. I'm glad I only spent one day. Then it was off to the land down under.

Electronics mall at Kuala Lumpur

Huge CN tower wannabe in Kuala Lumpur

Petronas Towers

View from the Petronas Towers skywalk

Petronas Towers at night

I flew to Perth in Western Australia. The first thing I noticed about Perth was that it was cold. Not what I thought my first impression of Australia would be. But it was night, and wintertime, in southern Australia. The days were nice though, although not as warm as I was used to up in Malaysia. I spent about 5 days in Perth, staying in the cheapest accomodation I could find - a dorm room in a hostel for $26. It's amazing how much more expensive Australia is than SE Asia. In fact, it's amazing how much more expensive it is than Canada. I didn't expect that. My funds will deplete faster than I ever thought.

Anyways, I found someone who had a campervan and was looking for people to do a roadtrip up to Darwin. I joined up, and have been spending the last 2 weeks travelling with 3 Germans through the outback of Australia. On the way, we've seen some cool stuff, including dolphins, stingrays, beautiful gorges and real outback. Still have not seen any snakes or massive spiders. I'm currently in Broome, a small city which is popular with tourists. Probably another week and I'll be in Darwin. Then it's on to Uluru and the east coast!

Sunset in Perth

Perth

On the road, into the outback with our bright red campervan

The Pinnacles - rocks jutting up into spires through the sand, right in the middle of the desert

Kite-surfers at Geraldton - this is a world-famous kitesurfing spot

Some of the western coast of Australia

Stromatolites at Shark Bay - one of the only places left in the world they still exist. They may LOOK like rocks, but they're actually... rock-depositing algae.