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Travelling SouthEast Asia

March - April 2024
~3 Months across SouthEast Asia, with Jods. Read more
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  • TravelerTravelling SouthEast Asia
    Day 2

    Exploring Singapore Airport

    March 18 in Singapore ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    After a 13 hour flight, I had a 3 hour layover before my flight to cambodia so spent a couple of hours exploring this massive airport, always fun. Also found a free cinema showing to have a very quick nap 😴Read more

  • TravelerTravelling SouthEast Asia
    Day 3

    Siem Reap Day #1

    March 19 in Cambodia ⋅ ☁️ 35 °C

    Day 1 of exploring Siem Reap, staying in an amazing hotel with private pool. Went to museum to learn some angkor history. Very hot here... Merino wool tshirt coming in handy already

  • TravelerTravelling SouthEast Asia
    1
    11
    Day 5–7

    Angkor Wat

    March 21 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    Went to Angkor Wat + surrounding temples
    earpy this morning, by chance caught it during the spring solstice or equinox which only happens two days a year - when the sun rises directly above the middle tower, lots of connections to the sun throughout the temple. Capture some pretty nice pics, although meant it was rammed with photographers at sun rise!

    Had a very helpful guide (he lost his arm as his mother was pregnant with him and was hurt whilst escaping the genocide) and he took us through three huge temples and talked through the history of how they were built and the different meanings behind to them. He also knew all the good spots to avoid most of the tourists. Super friendly guy (like pretty much everyone in Cambodia!). When we tipped him, he spent it on ice tea for us straight away. He was keen on photography hence some of couples pictures that I wouldn't otherwise have taken..

    Now off to Phnom Penh to visit killing fields    Read more

  • TravelerTravelling SouthEast Asia
    1
    Day 8–12

    5 Days in Koh Ta Kiev

    March 24 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Spent the last few days in an idyllic remote island in southern Cambodia called Koh Ta Kiev. Jodie is volunteering here as a yoga teacher here for 3 weeks, which means we get free accommodation and she gets
    free food. I am staying for 8 days total (until Monday) and then heading to Kuala Lumpur as I have some exams to do which needs good WiFi. We will meet again after she has finished her teaching.

    Really nice beach right next to the hostel and optional daily activities (e.g. snorkeling, cliff jumping) to keep everyone entertained and a basic gym area which I use in the morning whilst Jodie teaches. Also been a good time for me to do a lot of reading!

    Have met some really great people here, there is limited WiFi and no service so most nights are spent playing cards together which has been fun. Also no roads on the island so you need to trek through jungle to get to the other side which is a sweaty walk.. Have been told its very like the film 'The Beach' (haven't seen it). Has been a good opportunity to switch off for a while.

    Took a bit of time to get used to the heat (it's very humid at night and only drops to ~30 degrees at the coolest point of night) as there is no A/C or fans (see humble accommodation pic above). Huge tropical thunderstorm last night, probably the biggest/loudest I've ever heard. Luckily our hut keeps the water out!

    Not the idel destination for bug haters either! I have a lot of mosquito and ant bites despite my best efforts.

    Haven't been using my phone much so not a huge range of photos, will try take some more and add today.

    NB we did also go to the killing fields in Phnomh Penh but didn't want to take any photos as it felt disrespectful.    Read more

  • TravelerTravelling SouthEast Asia
    2
    Day 16–18

    Meandering in Malaysia

    April 1 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    Spent the last couple of days exploring Kuala Lumpur whilst Jodie finishes off her yoga teaching in Koh Ta Kiev.

    I needed some stable internet (and air con!) to sit my microsoft exams + flights in and out of KL are super cheap so figured it was the best option.

    The city is very modern and well connected with transport, doesn't feel like the rest of southeat asia with the exception of Singapore. Temperature is about ~35 here during the day and humid, although feels a lot cooler than cambodia (maybe I am just used to the heat now?). During the day there are occasional thunderstorms with rain which can be a nice break from the sun. There is also good air con in pretty much all buildings which is nice.

    Transport and food here are very cheap, even arguably cheaper than Cambodia in some places which is strange considering the difference in living standards. Most intercity trams/metro/monorail journeys are less than 30p and you can quite easily get a full big lunch or dinner for £5 or less.

    Spent 2 days solo travelling around the city + visiting some nearby sites and getting some revision done as well. I have had a pretty bad cold the past couple of days (since arriving) so haven't been feeling the best but have tried to power through.

    Jodie joins me after finishing her yoga, likely in Indonesia but yet to be decided.    Read more

  • TravelerTravelling SouthEast Asia
    Day 21–24

    Georgetown, Penang Island

    April 6 in Malaysia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Spent a few days north of Kuala Lumpur in an island called Penang. The island is quite large and is split into jungle/forest to the west and a city called Georgetown to the east.

    I spent 3 days here but it was one of my favourite places I've been to so far. It is a small city which is well developed but also still has a grungy and bohemian feel to it. It is full of street art and some really nice old buildings, there is also loads of great bars and the food was amamzing and cheap! Was a nice change after Kuala Lumpur which is a modern and cool city with great food but maybe felt a bit lacking in grunge/character/life sometimes. I prefer Georgetown.

    I spent one of the days there hiking up Penang Hill which is a group of peaks on the west of the island. There is an option to take a funicular but I oped to hike it instead, was quite challenging as there were hundreds of steps to get through and then a hike through a jungle, all in 30+ degrees. You can see in one of the pictures how sweaty I was at the top... Views at the top were worth it though. Then another day I went to Penang national park to do another jungle hike and see some beaches. driving on the roads leading to here was maybe my favourite part! Really nice and smooth along the coast with sea views all the way.

    Jodie caught a virus whilst working
    on the island in Cambodia so has had to leave the island early to get checked out at the hospital on the mainland to make sure it wasn't malaria or dengue. Luckily it wasn't but she has been really ill for the past few days and has only now started to recover. She has managed to make it to Malaysia now and I'm also now back in KL so we will see each other in the next couple of hours once she is awake. We will spend a few days in Malaysia just taking it easy whilst she recovers fully and then off to Indonesia!    Read more

  • TravelerTravelling SouthEast Asia
    Day 29–34

    Ubud, Bali

    April 14 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    After Jodie and I met up in Kuala Lumpur, we spent a few days in the city whilst Jodie recovered from her virus. We didn't do a huge amount, just explored more of KL. We were meant to go to North Malaysia to a jungle area however since the day we wanted to go coincided with the end of eid, the bus station was completely packed of people going back home. This meant we missee our bus north and sadly couldnt get a refund on all the travel/accomodation arrangements we had made. This meant sone more time in KL which we tried ti make the most of! Went bouldering, lots of great food ad I also took the down time to sit one of my exams (passed it!). I also decided to buzz my hair off! Jodie recovered fully in KL and is now doing well.

    After KL, our next stop was Bali, Indonesia which is where we are currently. We have been staying in Ubud which is where Jodie did her Yoga Teacher Training. Amazing place with lots of lush green nature everywhere and super cheap tasty food. Very easy to get a full meal here for ~£1.50. The people here are also very smiley and friendly!

    The day after we arrived, we were up at 1.30am to go on a sunrise hike of Mt Batur, an active volcano in Ubud. The hike itself wasn't too hard but was in the dark so had to use torches and be careful where we stepped. Took around 2 hours to get up and we did it with a big group of people as well as a guide. At the top, there are some great views of Ubud and surrounding volcanoes. Sadly when we got to the top eome clouds came just as the sunrise was starting so we missed pretty much all of it! Apparently it's quite common for this to happen. After the clouds cleared, the sun had already risen but still some really nice views (see pics).

    Next day we spent relaxing in an outdoor luxury gym/pool/sauna complex which had loads of facilities and really good food. Nice way to unwind after Batur hike. Also did a breathwork class which was very intense, I was especially surprised at the physical affects. I couldn't move my arms at all for a while as my hands were cramping so much from the increased oxygen flow. Was told this was normal however. Was a really good experience.

    Then we did some waterfall chasing and tea/coffee tasting. There is a coffee plantation where you can get 15 small cups of various flavours of tea/coffee as well as two large cups of Luwak coffee (apparently the best coffee in the world, the bean is eaten by a Luwak and then pooped out to make the coffee...) all for £5 (for both of us)! We sampled all the flavours and learned about all the health benefits which was really interesting. My favourite flavours were vanilla coffee and the 1st tea we tried (forgot the fruit name as I type this but you can see it in the pic of all the flavours, it's number 1). We bought some more of both of these to take home.

    We have one more day in Ubud and then catching a 10 hour bus to East Java to do two more volcano hikes.

    Really loving Ubud and Indonesia so far!    Read more

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