• Janel N
  • Janel N

Janel's Journey

My world tour Baca selengkapnya
  • Awal trip
    31 Januari 2024
  • Christchurch

    2–4 Feb 2024, Selandia Baru ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    Explored Sumner Beach, Christchurch's street art and botanical garden. Tried fish & chips, venison tataki, which were both excellent. Had a NZ prosecco by the beach. Tried a local craft beer at the Riverside Market. My view at my airbnb at sunrise was amazing!Baca selengkapnya

  • Mount Cook

    5–7 Feb 2024, Selandia Baru ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    First day at Mount Cook, climbed the stairway to heaven to Sealy Tarns, >2200 steps, 3.2km, 3 hours.

    The second day, I enjoyed another hike, Hooker Valley Track (10km, 3 hours), where it ended at Hooker Lake with glaciers.

    Last day at Mount Cook, I squeezed in one last hike, Red Tarns, 2 hours, only ~1243 steps up this time 😄 cloudier on this day but still beautiful!

    I've been told there's a hole in the ozone layer in this part of the world, so the UV rays are extra strong here. I applied sunscreen all over, but I forgot my hands! Now both of my hands are burnt.
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  • Queenstown

    7–12 Feb 2024, Selandia Baru ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Beautiful Queenstown! It's such a fun and adventurous place.

    I explored the town and enjoyed the lake, the park, the hikes, the kiwi park, the wine tour, the partying, and the food. There's a lot to see and do of all varieties. It's an interesting vibe as it's completely made up of tourists and outsiders. It makes it fun but also sterile.

    Made good friends and memories here. I enjoyed Queenstown overall and would love to see it in the winter as a ski town one day. I would also like to try their other wine tour where one tasting is under a cave. Or maybe come back to bungee jump, which is where it started from apparently!
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  • Phuket

    16–19 Feb 2024, Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Entered into this country in the most chaotic, heat blazing, touristic part of Thailand, patong beach. It was interesting but definitely not my favorite place. Luckily, I have a couple of friends who live in Phuket, so it was a good time overall.

    I went on a day trip to Koh Phi Phi island and saw Maya Bay. It was super touristy, so it was a little hard to enjoy the beaches, but I'll admit Maya Bay is gorgeous, the best sand I've ever stepped on. It was like walking on butter. The engine on our boat pooped out at one point, though, and some people were freaking out lol. We snorkled, which was nice, but one girl right behind me who didn't know how to swim was screaming bloody murder as if she was already drowning even though she had a lifevest and floating device on her. Met a nice Australian couple, though.

    Met Dada and his friends/clients, Michael from Australia, Dillon from Edmonton, and Steve from Australia. It was fun because without them, I would have never been on this street. It was fun to experience bangla road with them, right up until my interview, lol.

    The next day, I went up north a bit to stay 1 night in bangtao beach. It was a bit calmer and the beach there was nice, even though I got stung by a jellyfish. I saw my friend, Catherine, and I got to take a muay thai class, which was a really good experience. The coaches were great, and it was a cool gym to check out. That night, I watched the fights that the gym held, and I was asked to be a ring girl for them! I got free merchandise and an event out of it.
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  • Koh Lanta

    18–20 Feb 2024, Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Took a ferry to Koh Lanta, which is a much more calm island in Thailand. It's also more noticeably Muslim, which is interesting. The sunsets here were beautiful. Beaches were nice and quiet. It was so nice to relax here right after crazy Phuket. I had a beach day for the first day. The next day, I joined some girls on an island tour where we hired a taxi to drive us for the full day. We went to the national park, which had a hike through the rainforest, a nice beach, and a cool lighthouse viewpoint. We then went to old town for lunch on the water. After that the driver took us to see a mangrove forest then nui beach for sunset.Baca selengkapnya

  • Ao Nang / Railay

    20–22 Feb 2024, Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    I took a really convenient van that picked me up from my hostel to my next destination hostel. Ao Nang in Krabi is gorgeous but very touristy also. It felt like the brit's Cancun, a lot of English people just here to party. I did a trivia night and went out with the hostel. Tried Thai McDonald's.

    The beaches were really nice, though. I went to Ao Nang beach, Railay beach, and Phra Nang beach / cave. Checked out the Ao Nang night market.
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  • Khao Sok

    22–24 Feb 2024, Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Khao Sok National Park was stunning. A definite highlight. I did a 2 day, 1 night tour where we did a short jungle trek, rode a bamboo raft to check out the coral cave, then swam and relaxed by the lake. We also went on an evening and morning safari, and we saw wild elephants both times.Baca selengkapnya

  • Chiang Mai

    24 Feb–2 Mar 2024, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    I loved Chiang Mai. It reminded me of Ottawa, a big but small city. It felt more relaxed and authentic than the south of Thailand. Many cute cafes, inexpensive restaurants, and yummy street food.

    Things I did: explored temples, Sunday night market, elephant tour, yoga in the park, went to watch muay thai fights (3 KO's out of 6 matches!), driving range, rooftop bar, tried a bunch of different types of food, day trip to Doi inthanon national park where the tallest point in Thailand is as well as the queen and king pagodas, lots of hanging out with friends I made, and lastly I did a Thai cooking class where I made thai tea, coconut soup, pad thai, khao soi, and mango sticky rice.
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  • Pai

    1–3 Mar 2024, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Very interesting spot. Cooler temperatures, farm and mountain views, hippy vibes, but unfortunately, very smokey from burning season. I liked my hostel. It was like a little resort.

    The drive to/from Pai was horrendous, though, very windy roads.Baca selengkapnya

  • Bangkok

    5–8 Mar 2024, Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    Lively and dynamic city with a lot to see and do. Went to the biggest temple in Thailand to see the reclining buddha. Checked out some night markets. Visited MBK and Iconsiam, which are these giant, extravagant malls. Hopped around the city to try various Michelin guide dishes. Took a river cruise to china town. Had some nice cocktails as rooftop bars. Ate lots of street food. I met up with some of my aussie friends, and one of them has a pro camera, so he took some photos of me 📸Baca selengkapnya

  • Siem Reap

    8–10 Mar 2024, Kamboja ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    Wonder of the world, Angkor Wat. Went for sunset, which is supposed to be amazing, but it was too cloudy. It's still nice, though! Completed the small circuit and saw temples: angkor wat, bayon, ta keo, ta prohm, banteay kdei. Also checked out apopo, a nonprofit where they demonstrate the hero rats that were trained to sniff out tnt in the existing landmines in Cambodia. More night markets and exploration.Baca selengkapnya

  • Kampot

    11–14 Mar 2024, Kamboja ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    An interesting part of my journey. I stayed at a hostel that was home to 44 rescue dogs. At first, they offered me a hammock to sleep in overnight, but luckily, they had a dorm for me. The dogs were sweet, but it was too hippy vibes for me. Overall, had a nice time in the town.

    I did a countryside tour in my own personal tuktuk where they brought me to see farms, a cave, the secret lake, a pepper farm (kampot pepper is apparently famous in Europe), a salt field and the coastal town, Kep, where I checked out the beach and had crab & prawns stir fried with the kampot pepper.
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  • Phnom Penh

    14–15 Mar 2024, Kamboja ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    The capital city of Cambodia. Busy streets, traffic, and markets. But lovely food and coffee. Visited the S21 museum and killing field. The history of their recent civil war is heartbreaking, but definitely worth learning about and passing along.Baca selengkapnya

  • Taipei

    17–20 Mar 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Evan and I reunite 🤍 we walked around Taipei, went sightseeing, few night markets, and tried lots of food. We also went to a traditional tea house to try teas from Taiwan.

    We did a day trip to hike Bitoujiao trail. The trail was pretty easy. It was nice and quiet, not many tourists, and scenery was nice of the mountains and ocean even though it was cloudy.

    We then went to Jiufen, a town that similarly resembles the movie Spirited Away. We tried lots of food here also.
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  • Taichung

    20–22 Mar 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Spent a quick couple nights here in Taichung so we can visit Sun Moon Lake. We biked along the lake. Tried more food. I also had bubble tea at the shop where it was invented.

  • Kaohshiung

    22–25 Mar 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Pretty cool beach town with a good night market.

    We visited an island called Cijin to go to the beach and the lighthouse. There was a party on the beach while we watched the sunset.

    We visited interesting pagodas. When we went there, there happened to be a parade walking through. It was a nice cultural experience to watch.Baca selengkapnya

  • Hualien

    25–27 Mar 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Evan and I met up with friends, Jen, Curtis and Sam in Hualien. It was a lot of fun! We tried lots of food together, went to some fun bars, and explored Taroko National Park.

    We visited one bar where we started as the only people there so we started karaoke music night and as more people came to the bar, the more karaoke. Most people were great singers! The owner wouldn't let us leave 😂

    We were so lucky to have visited during this week and not the week after when the massive earthquake hit. 🙏
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  • Bali

    29 Mar–5 Apr 2024, Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Jen and I explored Bali together. We stayed:
    - Seminyak, for some relaxing beach time.
    - Ubud, we did some yoga, watched their traditional kecak and fire dance show, visited waterfalls, and a rice terrace (
    - Canggu: enjoyed food and drinks by the beach.
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  • Nusa Penida

    3–5 Apr 2024, Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Gorgeous views of Keling King, broken beach, cliff, and crystal bay. The best sunset I have ever seen in my life at Amok Sunset bar. We stayed in a hotel in the jungle which was nice.

  • Gili Trawangan

    6–9 Apr 2024, Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Gili T, a small island off Bali where there are no cars.

    Had a bad ferry experience getting here. It was soo hot on the boat, and the engine died. It delayed our arrival by 1 hour but got there eventually.

    Went on a snorkeling tour where we saw not 1, not 2, but 8 sea turtles!! I was so happy to see them in real life. Some are huge! So amazing 🥰 there was also some cool underwater statues where lots of cool fish swim around.

    Also tried shroom shakes here lol. I had a great time but these other girls did not. It made for an interesting experience 😂
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  • Flores

    11–15 Apr 2024, Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Landed in Labuan Bajo, where I spent the night in a hostel situated in the local village. I met some young Indonesians who invited me to have dinner with them. It was fun to try local food with them.

    I then set sail on a 3 day, 2 night sailing expedition around Komodo Island. It was a highlight of my travels. We snorkled and saw lots of amazing marine life and manta rays. Hiked amazing viewpoints where we watched the sunrise. We visited islands, including Pink Beach. We also, of course, found some komodo dragons! On the last sunset on the boat, we also saw thousands of bats fly over us going from one island to the other. It was really cool. The crew was so funny too. They taught us a dance from Flores that everybody knows. We also did karaoke after haha.

    When I was back on land, I chilled at a nice hostel with a rooftop pool and live music.

    It was such an amazing time here on Flores Island!
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