Asia

This is my favourite place in the world, it is such an all-round place, and has everything there you would ever want to do and experience. We went elephant trekking, visited all the temples, did scuba diving, and swam with sharks. The beaches here are great, with amazing beach parties. Thailand also has shows, floating river markets, fantastic roof top restaurants in Bangkok, and Thai boxing. I even tried Thai boxing myself for a bit. We had the best spa days, as the massages are just out of this world. I can’t even remember how many times I have been now, as I've been so many times, and I even lived there for a year.
My first visit to Thailand was in December 2004. This is a place I will go back to time and time again, there are so many beautiful islands to go and see, and some that I still haven't visited, so I’m looking forward to going back and experiencing more of it. The Thai food, OMG, is just mouth-watering. Thai food is one of my favourite foods, and I could just live on it, but no-one makes a good Thai like they do there.

I was in Cambodia in February 2005, when I was traveling the world, and we took the bus journey over the Thai border into Cambodia. Let’s just say it was an experience alright! 4 buses later, and a near death experience, we finally made it to Siem Reap, and lived to tell the tale. Well, what can I say about Siem Reap? The temples are just so beautiful and mind blowing, with stunning views and sights, they are a must go see. We also visited the killing fields.

After here, we hopped on a river boat cruise down the Mekong river, which was an eye opener for sure. Seeing all the floating houses, plus schools and a police station, all floating on water. It was strange watching the kids getting their lifts to school in canoes. Once we got to the other end we headed over to Sihanoukville, where we had time to hit the beach, hang out with the local kids, meet up with friends, and try the local foods. The prices of food and accommodation in Cambodia were so cheap in 2005. I am not sure what the prices are like now, but I am sure it still won’t be much.

I went to Vietnam in March 2005, and spent a month traveling all the way from one end of the country to the other on a bus, jumping on and off at places. We had clothes tailored, visited the Cu Chi tunnels, sailed around Halong Bay, then caught the train up north into the mountains to a place called Sapa, where the hill tribes live. We decided to do a trek up into the beautiful mountains and chat with local families and kids on the way. To see little kids playing with tins in the street was heart breaking, but they were happy, very happy, kids. Things like this make you realise you don’t need all these luxuries in life to be happy. On that trek we stayed in the mountains, in the house of a local family, just to get the local experience and hang out with them all.

This is a total different experience to anywhere else. When we were there in April 2005 it was still very undeveloped, which was great. They had little huts for beach bars, all showing movies. There’s a great feeling to this place, if you’re happy with very basic. One thing that is a must do when you go here is to go tubing in Vang Vieng!!! You float down the river on big yellow rubber rings, and on the way you have guys throwing out ropes to you to pull you in. You can then go zip line jumping, bamboo swinging, sliding down slides, or there are bars for beer stops. Each time you get back on your ring and float away again, they push you off then you stop at the next one. The river goes for miles, and you can spend all day doing this. Brilliant, I loved it. This is for the more adventurous type of person.

These pictures are from Chennai. My best friend was living out there for a while, so a few of us popped over to see her in September 2008. Not many tourists go to this area, and it was quite remote, so we got many strange looks from locals with us being the only white people around. I also spent 3 months in India when I was traveling the world in 2005, and this time we did the long over night train journeys and went up to the Himalayas. We skied in the mountains, and got stuck up there from a mini avalanche and more snow fall, so to get down to the car we had to slide down shear mountain drops on our bums, as the car couldn’t get up the road to take us down. It was a very scary moment, where I feared for my life. Traveling the world has given me some of my best experiences ever, but also some near death scary moments too. But they make great stories now.

This was the first place we went to when my best friend, Sophie, and I started our world travels in December 2004. We spent a few days here wondering around the streets, visiting the markets, and went up to Victoria Peak, which is the highest point in Hong Kong.

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