Gosh, it's been a long time since I got around to writing on here, shameful! An awful lot has gone on in the last month or so - I spent a wonderful month volunteering at S.C.A.O near Phnom Penh, and still miss the children terribly. I then moved on to Siem Reap, where I spent a miserable time feeling very ill and wondering how long it would take the staff to find my rotting corpse in my room if I died. The joys of travelling solo! I got over it in a couple of days, and managed to squeeze in a day trip to the temples of Angkor. Angkor Wat was obviously impressive, although the scaffolding all over the front of the building detracted from it's splendour somewhat. I was particularly impressed with the Bayon temple, which was basically an old king's face made to look a bit Buddha-esque sculpted on every side of every column around the temple. The 'Tomb Raider' temple, aka Ta Phrom, was also very interesting to see. It was definitely a case of nature - 1, man - 0!
Anyway, after leaving Siem Reap I took an agonising 12 hour minibus ride to Bangkok where I stayed with my lovely friend Sophie in her flat. Not only did she take me in and show me the joys of Swensens (ice-cream parlour) and Sizzler (amazing salad buffet place), but she also helped me get a job for next year at her school! I'll be teaching year 6, which will certainly be a change, and it's only for a term, but still I'm really looking forward to it. We have weekly fancy-dress party plans for the duration of my stay, I can't wait!
Anyway, back to the tourist trail. I hopped on a delightful train to Chiang Mai and had a LOT of fantastic experiences in a very short space of time - elephant trekking, white water rafting, ziplining, playing with tigers, jungle trekking (a short trek so it was good!) etc etc. Please check out my facebook photos to see more. The hostel I stayed at, A Little Bird Guesthouse, was also great and I met a lot of fun people there. Plus they have excellent burritos in Chiang Mai... just a little bonus! I also did a cooking course while I was there, which fuelled my love for Thai food. Sometimes it is way too spicy for me, but otherwise it's delicious!
After all these action packed adventures, I decided to go and take it easy in a little hippy town called Pai for a few days. There's not much to do except hire a bicycle or scooter and ride around, meet people, chat about nothing, listen to people play the guitars, and generally just chill out. A lot of people get stuck there for weeks and months, and I could easily have been one of those people if I hadn't been on a tight schedule by this point. It's so strange to have very little flexibility now, but money is so tight and time is also running out quickly, and yet I still have so much to fit in!
After Pai, and a very strange day involving brief entries into Myanmar and Laos as part of a visa run with style, I briefly went back to BKK to get the aforementioned job, then went down south to Ko Phangan. If you've heard of the island, or read the lonely planet, you may well just think full moon party and generally craziness are the only things on offer there. Not true, happily! I stayed well away from the annoying 19 year olds and had a very relaxed time on the North-West of the island. I drove a scooter for the first time there, which I enjoyed so much that I kept the scooter for 5 days, and just beach hopped and explored the waterfalls. The beaches there were unbelievably beautiful, I've never seen such white sand and such clear water. I was going to island hop but once I found my paradise there, why bother?
After 6 blissful days, I decided I probably should move on, and that's brought me to where I am now... Georgetown, Penang. I really love it here, there is a massive Indian and Chinese influence, so the place is always buzzing with activity, and the food is spectacular. I've met so many interesting characters as well - if you ever go, go to Jim's Place and meet the man himself. I'm not sure if I could describe his character, but let's just say that he is full of character, and nonsense, and unusual opinions. He calls himself Sir Jim and has his own quotes written on the walls, which he regularly refers to during conversation. One of those people who you only meet when you travel! He had another very interesting friend, who apparently had once been certified insane, was covered in tattoos, had lived on the streets, been in prison, but yet was very enjoyable to talk to and had a lot of similar opinions to me! Maybe that should worry me...
Anyway, I'm about to leave the crazies behind and get a train to Kuala Lumpur. Not heard rave reviews of the place yet, so I'm just going to have to get there and find out for myself!
Anyway, after leaving Siem Reap I took an agonising 12 hour minibus ride to Bangkok where I stayed with my lovely friend Sophie in her flat. Not only did she take me in and show me the joys of Swensens (ice-cream parlour) and Sizzler (amazing salad buffet place), but she also helped me get a job for next year at her school! I'll be teaching year 6, which will certainly be a change, and it's only for a term, but still I'm really looking forward to it. We have weekly fancy-dress party plans for the duration of my stay, I can't wait!
Anyway, back to the tourist trail. I hopped on a delightful train to Chiang Mai and had a LOT of fantastic experiences in a very short space of time - elephant trekking, white water rafting, ziplining, playing with tigers, jungle trekking (a short trek so it was good!) etc etc. Please check out my facebook photos to see more. The hostel I stayed at, A Little Bird Guesthouse, was also great and I met a lot of fun people there. Plus they have excellent burritos in Chiang Mai... just a little bonus! I also did a cooking course while I was there, which fuelled my love for Thai food. Sometimes it is way too spicy for me, but otherwise it's delicious!
After all these action packed adventures, I decided to go and take it easy in a little hippy town called Pai for a few days. There's not much to do except hire a bicycle or scooter and ride around, meet people, chat about nothing, listen to people play the guitars, and generally just chill out. A lot of people get stuck there for weeks and months, and I could easily have been one of those people if I hadn't been on a tight schedule by this point. It's so strange to have very little flexibility now, but money is so tight and time is also running out quickly, and yet I still have so much to fit in!
After Pai, and a very strange day involving brief entries into Myanmar and Laos as part of a visa run with style, I briefly went back to BKK to get the aforementioned job, then went down south to Ko Phangan. If you've heard of the island, or read the lonely planet, you may well just think full moon party and generally craziness are the only things on offer there. Not true, happily! I stayed well away from the annoying 19 year olds and had a very relaxed time on the North-West of the island. I drove a scooter for the first time there, which I enjoyed so much that I kept the scooter for 5 days, and just beach hopped and explored the waterfalls. The beaches there were unbelievably beautiful, I've never seen such white sand and such clear water. I was going to island hop but once I found my paradise there, why bother?
After 6 blissful days, I decided I probably should move on, and that's brought me to where I am now... Georgetown, Penang. I really love it here, there is a massive Indian and Chinese influence, so the place is always buzzing with activity, and the food is spectacular. I've met so many interesting characters as well - if you ever go, go to Jim's Place and meet the man himself. I'm not sure if I could describe his character, but let's just say that he is full of character, and nonsense, and unusual opinions. He calls himself Sir Jim and has his own quotes written on the walls, which he regularly refers to during conversation. One of those people who you only meet when you travel! He had another very interesting friend, who apparently had once been certified insane, was covered in tattoos, had lived on the streets, been in prison, but yet was very enjoyable to talk to and had a lot of similar opinions to me! Maybe that should worry me...
Anyway, I'm about to leave the crazies behind and get a train to Kuala Lumpur. Not heard rave reviews of the place yet, so I'm just going to have to get there and find out for myself!
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