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RTW solo backpacking trip
  • Sheppo89
  • Sheppo89

RTW solo backpacking trip

Just me, my Osprey farpoint 40L bag and a vague idea of where I want to go Read more
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  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Yangon - Burma

    April 6, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    Woke up not feeling too good again. It was 1pm before I moved from my bed, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, my head, muscles and even my bones are sore and my stomach isn’t too happy either.

    Did a short walk around the city today but I was exhausted due to the heat and I think sickness. I went the pagoda but it’s under maintenance so you can’t see it (I’ve downloaded a proper picture of it though)

    Went back the hostel and slept. Hope I can shake whatever this is before Monday when I have a 10 hour coach journey to Bagan    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Yangon - Burma

    April 7, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    Another day with my insides falling out

    Not good this - I’ve got a 10 hour coach journey tomorrow i can’t be doing that when I’m sprinting to the toilet every half hour

    Can’t complain too much as it’s been 12 months of going new and different places - varying levels of hygiene and new foods and this is the first time I’ve been sick for a number of days

    I do hope it improves by tomorrow, or I may have to cancel my coach trip to Bagan...    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Burma - Yangon

    April 8, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ 🌙 32 °C

    Again woke up and my insides are still falling out - haven’t eaten anything proper now for 3 days and it’s like I’ve been eating 12 roast dinners an hour

    Fuck sake

    I am going to risk my coach journey later, I’m just going to eat bread and rice and then maybe down 2 Red bulls 2 hours before I’m due to leave to maybe clear me out...

    The bus station is only 11 miles away from where I’m staying but traffic here is fucking awful. It doesn’t move. So I called my taxi 2 hours ahead of time to get there on time

    My coach leaves at 8 - it’s now 7:22 I have to be at the check in counter at 7:30 and I’m still 6 miles away - good chance I’m going to miss this coach, if I do I’m just gonna book a flight out of this miserable shitty place (just moaning cause I’m sick)

    Update: turns out I can’t travel on from Mandalay anytime soon due to a festival and something to do with government restrictions on travel, so I can no longer go to the Shan State - decided to just pay for a flight out of Mandalay (at quite a cost) back to Bangkok -it is a shame really but the country still isn’t that stable. I’m most gutted about not seeing Naypitadaw but I’m sure it’ll still be similar in a few years time

    So - back to Bangkok on the 17th - I’m going to do some of the bits I missed out on such as bridge over river Kwai, Ayutthaya and the floating markets.

    I’ll probably head into Cambodia after that to see Angkor Wat - which will be another thing off my bucket list done.

    I’ll be in early May at that point so I’ll see where the league is at before making any decisions. I might try snd squeeze in either Koh Lanta or Laos in before coming back by the 12th May.

    If the league isn’t likely I’ll definitely do a tour of Loas and the Southern Thái Islands. At that point I’ll be low on money so I may just fly back with a few quid or just go somewhere like Singapore and live like a king for a few days.

    I’d still take a Liverpool league win over anything though

    I MADE THE COACH... JUST!!

    I had to bail on the taxi and just run, I had no idea where I was going at all, I was just following the crowd and it’s not a bus station. It’s a farce, I’ve genuinely never seen anything like it, it’s a jungle. Extremely exciting but a jungle non the less.

    I had no idea of where the JJ express station was so I was just running around. Luckily a super nice woman could see I had no idea where I was or anything. She told me where JJ express was and I ran around to it and as I ran around to it the bus was out of the station. Again luckily another young girl could tell that was my coach due to the dismayed look on my face. She banged on the coach and stood infront of it to stop it.

    I ran onto the coach and I feel really bad I had no time to turn around and thank her. But she saved me a lot of grief, as if I had of missed it I’d of probably just got a hotel for the night and probably been in a mood and booked a flight out of here in the morning hahahha.

    Tbh I’m not even 100% sure this is my coach - it’s a JJ express coach and it said Bagan on the front. I’ll be unlucky if it isn’t mine hahahaha

    Update: it’s my coach so that’s a relief - what isn’t a relief is that my stomach is making noises and giving me pains. Burmese toilets are woeful, most are holes in the ground with bucket flush. I think I’d rather get piles by keeping it in than go one - i did finally get around to watching venom though. Boss film!

    So it’s 22:07 now so I’ve got 8 hours till Bagan... gonna try and get some sleep but as I couldn’t put my bags under the coach as i got on late it’s taking up the room where my legs would go so I’m extremely uncomfortable. I’m sure I’ll sleep easy though. Slight rocking, dull drone of the engine - always gets me away    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Bagan - Burma

    April 9, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ 🌙 33 °C

    Arrived here at 6am, headed straight for the hostel but couldn’t check in till 2 which was a ballache. Even worse that my stomach was in bits still.

    I managed to get a few hours sleep in the lobby but i was woken up by quite severe abdominal pain ☹️

    So another day wasted due to whatever it is - I think I’m just going to try and live a diet of purely packaged western food cause I don’t believe that this is a bug or anything I do think bits food/drink based so cans of coke/water for me till I arrive in Thailand - suppose the good side is I may end up loosing weight if it continues.    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Bagan - Burma

    April 10, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    Felt a little bit better today but still not enough to really do anything, which is a shame as I leave here tomorrow and head to Mandalay. But I’m happy I was sick here and not somewhere more interesting I suppose.

    I did however plan my trip till 3rd May - so after Mandalay I’m flying back to Bangkok for a week to do all the stuff I missed first time round such as the floating markets, ayuttuyha, bridge over river Kwai and explore Siam which I missed last time.

    After there I am getting a coach to Siem Reap to go explore Angkor wot for 5 days then off to Phnon Phen for 5 days. After that I don’t know, As I’ll still have one eye on the league. But I am running low on money now so I’ll be home in May I think. I obviously have money saved so i could continue on for another year easily but I don’t want to dip into that money as that’s to help me start again when I get back and will help towards buying a car, Saving for a house etc.

    So.... bring on Mandalay    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Bagan/Mandalay - Burma

    April 11, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    Woke up feeling much better today - still not brilliant but certainly better

    Had my usual freezing cold shower has they don’t have water heaters here and we also had our first blackout which was kinda cool.... I suppose

    I was picked up at the hostel bang on time to get the coach to Mandalay. I was picked up by a shared taxi which is basically a flat bed truck with some benches and a metal cage so you don’t fall out - very glamorous

    The bus itself is shocking hahahahah - it also smells awful. I’ve tried so hard to ignore it but there’s no escaping it - also Myanmar’s personal hygiene is also something to be desired 🤢

    The ride to Mandalay is probably the worst I’ve experienced in terms of comfort. You’re basically just being thrown around in your seat. It’s exciting but if you want comfort, safety or have motion sickness this is not for you - trying to read a book on my iPad was pretty much impossible it’s that bumpy

    I’m around half way into the journey now so should reach Mandalay around 7pm

    We stopped off at probably the worlds worst roadside cafe. It was horrid hahaha. There where people waiting literally 1 step away from the coach doors to make you buy something. Chicken that’s on a plate that’s been left out in the sun (vom) the smell was terrible I ended up waiting on the far side of the road out of the way.

    We get back on the coach and obviously there are social and cultural differences between myself and the locals but here is where I would say they need to stop and get into the 21st century... picking at your feet on the coach, burping and hocking as loud as you can. My stomach was turning the entire trip

    Dirty bastards    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Mandalay - Burma

    April 12, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    So after the worlds worst coach trip yesterday I had a little venture out and about Mandalay. It didn’t last long, I still feel awful and it’s around 40° today - I am not built for these temperatures hahahahaha. The heat and humidity limited me to about 30 minutes walking around. I downed roughly 2L of water and I still felt dehydrated.

    The city is getting ready for Thingyan which is their new year - a huge 3 day water festival which apparently is mental so I am looking forward to that.

    There’s also a smell here in Burma - everywhere you go it’s a smell I can’t describe! It isn’t pleasant either.    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Mandalay - Burma -

    April 13, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 37 °C

    HAPPY THINGYAN

    Today is the start of the new year festival here in Burma (and most of south east Asia)

    I was woken up to booming rave music at around 7am - which I did not expect hahahahaha. They start early here.

    I just watched the start of the festivities from the balcony of the hostel, which was quite cool as it gave me a brilliant view of everything going on.

    I ended up going down to join the festival around mid day as it was starting to get busy, and one thing I noticed was I was the only white person there. A fact which was made even more plainly clear by the fact everyone was looking at me. It then went from looking at me to the occasional one coming over and in broken english repeating hi hello hi hello and shaking my hand which at first was a little bit strange but after a while it was ok.

    I was being targeted by Everyone to be soaked which I didn’t mind as it was 41° outside so the water helped me cool down. I ended up being asked to get in a few photos with people. In a few hours I probably ended up in roughly 50/60 photos.

    The festival was amazing, super lively and everyone was so friendly and they where just out to have a good time which was awesome to see and brilliant to be a part of!

    Later that night I went to a pub for a few beers and I got talking to the barman there about the festival- he explained to me why I attracted so much attention:

    I am white
    Blonde
    Dark beard

    That’s not a combination they see at all, not even on TV. He also explained to me that most people in Burma never get to leave their village except for Thingyan - so to then come across a white westerner with blonde hair and black facial hair it’s an extremely rare occurrence and one which they may never actually genuinely see again.

    Anyway, more festival antics tomorrow    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Mandalay - Burma

    April 14, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 37 °C

    More festival going today - it’s even hotter so I’m thankful for it.

    Again I’ve been targeted by the locals which is welcomed with this heat - more photos, more shaking hands etc hahahahaha.

    I think the locals where a bit braver today as more of them come over, it there was a new development today... I was asked to hold babies for photos which was awful as I don’t like babies. However I was polite enough and went along with it. The people seemed to love it and to be fair they where extremely polite and really grateful that I held their kids etc.

    Today was also super sobering. I knew Burma was not particularly well off and most people live in some form of poverty like most of Asia but here and Cambodia seem to be the worse for it.

    I was being soaked by a little girl, no older than 4 when her water gun broke, she was understandably upset and she ran back to her mum to fix the gun. It was broke, unrepairable and she started crying and I felt awful, so I went up to the girl and gave her some money from my pocket to buy a new one. I only gave her 10kyat which is roughly £5 - her parents started crying and tried to give me the money back. It was £5 - that’s it. I could of dropped it and never noticed. I was insistent that they keep it to buy her a new gun (turns out a new gun is like 50p) but even people who where looking seemed shocked by it. It was nice to make that families day but I was surprised by the overwhelming reaction by it. But it just highlights how good we have it back home - the sad reality is that £5 to most of the worlds population is a huge amount of money to just be given.

    I was half expecting more people to come over and beg for money when I saw the reaction - but not a single person came over wanting or begging for money - just to say hello and take pictures.

    Overall very cool sobering day    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Mandalay - Burma

    April 15, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    Last day of Thingyan today - it’s been a brilliant experience. It’s somewhat limited my ability to move around the city as most things have been closed which makes sense.

    I just enjoyed the experience from the comfort of the balcony today as all my clothes where soaked hahahah.

    It was nice seeing so many people happy and enjoying themselves of all ages, although I would say it’s definitely leaning more towards the younger generation - but I suppose their the ones who are going to be out all day for 3 days straight. I’m 30 and I’d struggle to do that hahahaha.

    I am going to try and move around the city tomorrow but I’m not sure how quickly things get back to ‘normal’ here    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Bangkok - Thailand

    April 17, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    Back to Bangkok Baby! Love it here

    Didn’t do anything yesterday as the city was on clear up and most things where still closed so I just went back the hostel and chilled and had a few drinks.

    Quite glad I’m back in Thailand, I know I won’t get sick here and the weather is slightly cooler. Landed quite late about 10:30pm so it was like 11:30 before I was all Checked in so I just went to bed. The hostel is superb though - it’s called the printing house and it’s quite posh. Much comfier than anything I stayed in in Burma    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Bangkok - Thailand

    April 18, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

    Didn’t wake up till mid afternoon today, was a bit tired from the travelling. So I just went for a quick walk around the area my hostel is in as I think that’s important to get to know your surroundings.

    I got back the hostel and went to the bar upstairs.... and to my delight it was a sky bar. This isn’t advertised on its website so I was even more pleased when I saw the view!

    Eventually a British lad called Matt came upstairs and we got chatting, he’s from north wales and is stuck here in Thailand as his passport was water damaged during the festival so the Thai authorities said if they let him on the plane the border control at Loas would send him back to the UK, so he’s here in Bangkok for a few days whilst the embassy arrange a new passport. He was a cool guy I really liked him. After a while more and more people arrived. There was a guy called Elliot from Bristol who was a really nice lad, on a solo tour of Thailand and Vietnam! There was a huge German guy called Bjorn (half Swedish) he was super cool as I’ve found most Germans to be. There was Kim a fellow german who was doing 2 months of travelling after 5 months of working in Indonesia. Maria from Argentina was crazy but super friendly and she found my accent to be ‘the most difficult she’s ever come across’ then finally there was Li from China who was off her head crazy but again very friendly and an American guy called Spencer who was a doctor from Pennsylvania.

    We all had a few drinks at the hostel and headed on down to Khao SAN Road for a night out - started off quite quiet but then after a few drinks we where all raving away, plenty of drinks later and around 5am we headed back to the hostel and I got to my dorm and I don’t even remember getting into bed.

    Brilliant night - brilliant people    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Ayutthaya - Thailand

    April 20, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    So today was one of the reasons I came back to Thailand - first time I was here in Bangkok I missed the ancient city of Ayutthaya which is something I really wanted to see. So I booked an all day tour which was the best thing as I couldn’t be arsed sorting out all 3 places on my own and it only worked out a few pound cheaper to do it myself anyway.

    First stop was the summer royal palace which is stunning, the entire grounds are immaculate... but I couldn’t go in without pants, so I had to buy a pair of those dodgy elephant pants every prick wears here as that’s all I could get. I wasn’t impressed.

    After there we went onto Ayutthaya- the place is awesome and I finally got to see the Buddha head stuck in the tree (bucket list ✅) the complex isn’t that big but the city of Ayutthaya is huge - 1000km larger than Bangkok but with less than 10% population so it’s quite sparse.

    After the city we went to a temple with a solid gold Buddha statue - very bling. Then we went to port and we cruised down the chao Praha river back to Bangkok whilst enjoying an all you can eat buffet. The cruise was awesome, very relaxing and it was cool to see how quickly Bangkok builds up from the river.

    So another thing off the bucket list done ✅ only a few more left now    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Maeklong/Damnoen - Thailand

    April 21, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 37 °C

    Another busy day today - off to the railway markets and floating markets, again as this is something I missed first time around.

    Picked up from outside the hostel then we where taken to the salt fields to see how it’s harvested which was cool I guess. From there we got on the actual train that goes through the markets which was cool, although the locals didn’t seem too pleased about it 😂

    After the train pulled into the station at the market we got to walk around and explore it and it was cool - extremely crowded and narrow but seeing all the produce just at the side of the tracks was awesome, and seeing how they pack it up for when the trains come is even cooler - i got the best mango smoothie I’ve ever had at the market, it was amazing!

    After the market we had a trip to the floating markets, first by coach then by long tail boat which was class! It was not safe at all which made it more exciting as when other boats came past the wash from their boats made ours lean quite a bit, there was a few iffy moments.

    Arriving at the market it was chaotic, so many boats and people all in a small place, it was boss seeing all the food and stuff being sold from the boats. I also got some food from a restaurant just off the market which was recommended to me by thr tour guide - 30baht for spicy chicken and rice! It was super tasty I ended up giving the woman in the boat 100 baht and she was so happy she gave me a coconut ice cream as she wouldn’t let me walk away without taking it hahahaha.

    After that we had a mad rush back into Bangkok as the city was closing due to a practice run of a parade next month in honour of the king. We made it back, I had a quick nap before heading to Chinatown for some food before A few drinks at the sky bar    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Bangkok - Thailand

    April 23, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Didn’t do anything yesterday just had a chill day on khao san road drinking mango smoothies with rum playing footy manager. Boss.

    Today I went to explore all the malls, my favourite was MBK mall as it had everything you could want, luxury designer gear, fakes, huge food court and even a cinema. I went to watch the New hell boy which is shite, but what was annoying the whole cinema was empty and these two people chose to sit next to me!!!!

    Could of spent a lot of money in here but I’d have no way of carrying it ☹️    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Siem Reap - Cambodia

    April 24, 2019 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    Arrived in a Siem reap after the most ball ache of a border crossing I’ve ever had to do in my life. Utter chaos, no electricity in any buildings, locals looking to take advantage of vulnerable tourists all this after the second most uncomfortable journey I’ve had.

    But - I made it and I’m here for 5 nights. I’m basically only here for Angkor Wat, gonna get myself a 3 day ticket and just spend my time doing that here as it’s another thing off my bucket list done!

    However the hostel is really nice, but my bed is just out of the way of the air con so at night I’m boiling hahahaha    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Angkor Wat - Cambodia

    April 26, 2019 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Unbelievable place! Got up early this morning to head to Angkor wat. I went with an American girl called Sara who I met the day before a former USA gymnast. She was a bit mental like but sound.

    We got a tuk tuk to collect our tickets then to pick up our bikes so we could cycle around the area as it’s massive!

    First stop was Angkor wat - this place is incredible, how it’s survived so long and remain in such good condition is amazing. The stone work is extremely intricate and it looks like at some point it was all red, green and coloured in.

    The temple it’s self isn’t that big but it fits a lot into it and I got some cool photos of it!

    Next we headed on to the next temple which is about 3km up the road. This was my favourite temple, it reminded me of tomb raider!

    We spent all day just going from temple to temple in the unrelenting heat - it was 40° with humidity of around 85 - it was awful to walk around in!

    You could spend a week exploring the temples here no problem - it’s huge and there’s so much to do and see!!!!    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Phnom Penh

    April 29, 2019 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    Got my mini bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh today - as journeys go it was ok. Few scary moments but you do kinda get used to it in a sense after a while!

    I managed to read a bit more of Jordan Peterson’s book -an antidote to chaos. Brilliant book!

    My hotel is brilliant - I’m so glad to just have my own room and bathroom to myself and 4 pillows!!! Sick of surviving on one ahhaha - the hotel is nice as are staff. Im pretty certain they have no idea what I’m saying as I’ve given up on talking slower and softer. It’s exhausting hahahah.

    Phnom Penh isn’t the prettiest of cities in the world however you can see french influences everywhere which is nice.

    I just had a little walk around today - but mainly enjoyed having my own room 😄😄    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Phnom Pehn - Cambodia

    April 30, 2019 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    Had another little walk around the city today - it’s certainly a developing one. Building works everywhere, new roads, and infrastructure being built. But if you look over the river it’s very traditional, houses on wooden stilts on the river banks!

    I did find it to be quiet too, especially down by the river banks, I expected it to be much busier. Not that I was complaining like!!

    I also managed to get tickets to the avengers in 4DX - cost me £6 for a ticket! SIX QUID!! For a 4D blockbuster film! I imagine it’s close to £20 back home!!

    The film was awesome - one of the best films I’ve ever seen - Iron Man is a hero!!!

    It also seems that Tom Holland is incredibly popular here in Cambodia as when he came on screen there was huge and I mean huge screams etc, even louder than when Captain America lifted Mjolnir!!!!

    After that i walked around of the malls that they have here - not as big as the ones in Bangkok but they’re alright I guess, considering Cambodia is a much poorer country than Thailand!

    It was getting late so I headed back to the hotel, got comfy in bed and watched Thor Ragnarock as my room had fox movies 🎥    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Phuket - Thailand

    May 4, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Arrived in Phuket after a quick over night stop in Bangkok after Phnom Pehn.

    The hostel I’m staying in is kinda off the grid, it’s brand new and no one knows where it is so it took a while to get here!

    When I arrived I threw my bag in my room and just headed out towards the chillva market which is a cool place - got some food and stuffed my face!

    Heading out to Phuket old town tomorrow - I’ve heard its got a cool street market there    Read more

  • Sheppo89RTW solo backpacking tripSheppo89

    Asia Tour - Phuket Old Town

    May 5, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Cool day here today - walked around the old town which is quite nice. It’s relatively small and easy to walk around. Headed to the market which is one of the best I’ve been to as most of it is like small Etsy type stalls. Bought a few presents for back home - prices here are more expensive here than most markets but it kinda makes sense I guess if it’s all handmade - I also had an amazing mango smoothie here which was so refreshing.

    Also around these areas there’s quite a bit of cool street art and some of the buildings are interesting as they don’t really fit in with the local area.

    Cool place - would visit again    Read more

  • Trip end
    May 10, 2019
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