south east asia

July - August 2017
A 41-day adventure by Shauna Read more
  • 40footprints
  • 5countries
  • 41days
  • 110photos
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  • 5.4kkilometers
  • 1.2kkilometers
  • Day 17

    Angkor Wat

    July 31, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Today we got up at 4 am!! We made our way to Angkor Wat in the pitch black and managed to get the most perfect seats across from the main Angkor Wat temple for sunrise. Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century and is the largest religious complex in the world. The entire site measures over 162 hectares so we travelled around from temple to temple by tuk tuk. We spent over 6 hours looking at the different temples, they were all amazing (particularly the Temple used in Indiana Jones, which is over run by trees) but nothing beat the sunrise, although the monkeys were very impressive. We got back to the hostel at lunchtime and went straight to bed. When we eventually woke up we went to the pool for a few hours. We spent the evening in the rooftop bar where we met some girls from Scotland who had been in our hostel in Hoi An and Phnom Penh.Read more

  • Day 18

    Koh Samui

    August 1, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today was a long day of travelling. Our various modes of transport today were
    A tuk tuk
    2 planes
    A bus
    A boat
    A van

    We left Cambodia, flew to Bangkok where we went through immigration and got a stamp in our passport allowing us into the country for 30 days (the first visa we didn't have to pay for!!). We managed to time it perfectly so we only had about 30 minutes to wait for our next plane. We flew down to Surat Thani where we got a 2 hour bus to the docks. Then was time to get on the boat to Koh Samui. Finally we arrived to our island paradise and checked into our gorgeous apartment. We had a little stroll around the town bought some food now that we had a fridge to actually store things (very exciting). Then was time to turn up the air con and head to bed.Read more

  • Day 19

    Koh Samui

    August 2, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today was 35 degrees!! Between the heat and the travelling the day before we were wrecked so we spent the whole day at the pool apart from going down to the town for lunch. We managed to have the entire pool to ourselves all day. I ended up sitting in the kiddies pool to read my book because it was too hot to sit out.Read more

  • Day 23

    Exploring Koh Samui

    August 6, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    32 degrees again with not a single gust of wind! After making breakfast (including a large mug of Barry's) we decided to spend the day exploring Koh Samui. We started by going to Koh Samui's most famous landmark, the Big Buddha, a huge shrine to the Buddha on top of a hill. We then went to fisherman's village, the main town on Samui where we had lunch with the most amazing view. Later that evening we went down to the beach to watch the sunset.Read more

  • Day 24

    Koh Pha-Ngan

    August 7, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We spent nearly a week in Koh Pha-Ngan, a lot of which was spent relaxing by the pool or on the beach. The 7th of August was the Full Moon Party, one of the most famous parties in the world . We met up with some other nursing girls who were travelling around Thailand, put on our face paint and got ready to party. The full moon party is essentially thousands of people dressed in tie die with glow in the dark face paint partying on the beach and trying to make it till sunrise. It was a pretty surreal experience partying on this big beach that seemed to be made up of mostly Irish people . Throughout the night the beach got emptier and emptier until only a few of us were left to watch the sun rise over Haad Rin Beach. At 7 am we got back to the hotel, showered and went to bed.Read more

  • Day 26

    Koh Pha-Ngan Part 2

    August 9, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    The day after the full moon was pretty much a write off. We met back up with the nursing girls, went for a beautiful dinner then headed back to the hotel and watched a movie before going to sleep. The next day Eva convinced us to go to a water park called Slip N Fly. The main attractions are two massive slides with a steep incline at the bottom so you go flying into the air before landing in the water . After signing our lives away at the front door we watched a few people land successfully and a few not so successfully .

    When Eva finally convinced/dragged me to the top of the slide a slight meltdown was had where I refused to let go of the Frenchman who was working at the top . He told us that it is actually safer to go backwards as you are then in a pencil dive position landing in the water. It might be safer, but it is way scarier!. Being the nurses we are we decided safety first so backwards we went down the slide . As soon as I went, I actually really enjoyed it - apart from a large pain in the bum when landing in the water it was actually great fun!. That evening we went to the famous Amsterdam Bar that has the best views of the sunset and watched the sun go down on our last night in Koh Pha-Ngan .
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  • Day 27

    Koh Tao

    August 10, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    After a very delayed boat and sitting in a whole bunch of ants we said goodbye to Koh Phagnan and hello to Koh Tao . We checked into our hostel which was right on the beach. As soon as we dropped our bags Eva and I rushed to the water to watch the sunrise where a random American guy took this amazing photo of us (thanks David wherever you are). That evening we watched a fire show on the beach. The performers were so talented. At one point they tried to get me to let them carry me under the burning limbo pole which was my cue to head to bed.Read more

  • Day 28

    Koh Tao

    August 11, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ 🌬 33 °C

    Today we went on a snorkelling trip. It started with our early morning transfer (which turned out to be way too many people stuffed into the back of a pick up truck). We then were given our snorkels and set off on our boat. Our first stop was shark bay which is famous for black tipped reef sharks, although they are very scared of humans so hard to spot. I was convinced I saw one darting off from the corner of my eye but that could just be wishful thinking. We travelled around the whole of Koh Tao stopping off at different spots. It was amazing getting so close to the fish and being able to see the coral up close. My favourite were the little black and white fish who were so interested they swam right up to us. A few swam under me and I could feel them under my tummy.

    We went to an island off Koh Tao called Ang Thong which is a National Marine park. We then hiked up to the view-point which involved clambering up some boulders (like a more difficult version of the sugar loaf at Christmas and about 25 degrees warmer). The view from the top was definitely worth it though .
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  • Day 29

    Krabi

    August 12, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    After Koh Tao it was time for a long day of travelling from the east coast of the South of Thailand to Krabi in the west . We got two boats (in true Thai fashion we were never told to switch boats and luckily we overheard someone saying it and managed to get on to the right one. We then boarded a coach once we reached the mainland and finally reached Krabi that evening. We were staying in a lovely hostel right on the beach. We spent the evening looking around the market and only realised when we got back to the hostel that the air conditioning in our room was broken. When we reported it to the staff they upgraded us for free to a much bigger more comfortable private room. Happy with our new beds we went straight to sleep.Read more

  • Day 30

    Railay Beach

    August 13, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Today we walked down to the pier and got on a tiny very wobbly boat to go to Railay beach which is about a twenty minute journey from Krabi. We spent a few hours swimming and snorkelling before a storm hit. We than ran back to the boats and had a horrendous stormy journey back to Krabi. With a lot of screaming and a few tears we finally made it back to dry land. We spent the evening walking around the market, trying to refrain from spending all our money. We planned on going out but were just too tired and we had to be up early, so we headed straight to bed.Read more