Asian Adventure - Part 12 - Thailand, The End

After one of the scariest bus rides of my life where the driver seemed completely insane I was glad to reach the Good Dreams Guesthouse in Krabi where I had my own room with a real bed, warm showers and electricity, I was ready for a good night sleep that's for sure.
In the morning I was up early and booked myself in for elephant trekking with Nosey Parker's tours. I was picked up and taken to the elephant sanctuary where I was introduced to my elephant Ka Ka.

We went for a trek through the jungle where we also saw monkeys:

Afterwards I said thank you to Ka Ka with some elephant size pineapple treats:

...before the elephants relaxed and had a nice cool bath:

The next day I went off to the 4 island boat trip:

One of the islands we visited was known as Chicken Island:

We went to a third island, had lunch on the beach then  dashed back on to the boat as a storm started. The rain was pouring down and our guides didn't want us on the water so we went to an island with a restaurant we could shelter in to sit out the storm. Unfortunately we were unable to visit the final island on our schedule but instead they took us to Railay beach where we found caves with some surprising fertility shrines:

Once we were back in Krabi town I finished off my visit with the local temple:

In the morning I took a bus to my next stop; Phuket where I stayed with Magda, from Poland, and her boyfriend Nick, from Ireland. We had a relaxing afternoon by the pool before they took me to a couple of bars in town with their friend Jason, from England. The following day I went in to town and since it was raining again I experience my first Thai massage. In the afternoon I took a tuk tuk to Wat Chalong, Phuket's biggest temple:

and in the evening I took a night bus to Bangkok to finish my Asian Adventure!
I had set off to Bangkok a day earlier than expected due to a last minute decision that there wasn't much else to see in Phuket so when I arrived at 7:30 in the morning I needed to work out how to get to an area with backpacker accommodation and then find somewhere to stay. Luckily a local helped me out and took to the nearest metro station so I could head towards Khao San road. I found the MOM Guesthouse and booked myself in for the next three nights.
I went for a wonder around the local area and found the Grand Palace:

...which was exactly as the name suggested. I just and so made it all the around the palace without collapsing from the heat! Next I went to see the massive sleeping Buddha. On the way I definitely learnt never to trust a Thai person as one of the tuk tuk driver bare face lied to me telling me the sleeping Buddha temple was closed now and only on that particular day and did I want to go to see something else, obviously with the use of his tuk tuk. Luckily I knew different and continued on my way in a slightly worse mood for being interrupted by him.
When I got to the temple it was pretty obvious why it was a popular attraction:

After some searching around for the best price I booked myself on to a trip to the floating market and tiger temple so the next morning I was up bright and early to set off on a bus to the floating market:

where people were selling everything from souvenirs to clothing and even fully cooked meals from their little boats:

Then after some driving, lunch and some more driving we came to the bridge over the River Kwai, built by prisoners of war:

Then after yet more driving we arrived at the tiger temple where got up close and personal with some of the big cats!

and some of the little ones too:

The next day I went on a trip to the old capital city; Ayatthaya to visit temples:

...and some ruins from the wars with Myanmar (Burma):

and, of course, we saw some more Buddhas:

In the ruins most of the Buddah's heads had been removed and in one case a tree had grown around a Buddha head:

On my last day in Bangkok, Thailand and Asia I simply enjoyed relaxing and doing a bit of shopping then after a night at the airport, a flight to Delhi, another flight to London, a night with my friends Olivia and Malky, a mega bus, a train, a coach and finally another train I eventually made it home to see my family. What a trip and what a relief to be back in the UK... but there's definitely still plenty more out there to see!

Asian Adventure - Part 11 - Malaysia

One of the best parts of travelling in Asia is that transport is always reasonably priced and comfortable. The buses have big seats, television screens for each seat and on my coach to Kuala Lumpur we even received a meal. When I arrived in KL it was great to see a friendly face and I was met by my friend from university; Ash. We caught up over coffee until my host Sue Anne finished work and took me to my accommodation. the name couchsurfing means you generally don't expect amazing accommodation, but its free, so who cares. Well, Sue Anne didn't give me a couch, or a bed, she gave me a whole house of my own to stay in, complete with huge HD TV! It was so nice to have my own space for a while.

After a good nights rest and a delicious breakfast cooked by Sue Anne's mum we set off to look around the local area I had decided that the next morning i would go hiking and just as we were discussing who i could go with we bumped in to two other couch surfers Sue Anne knew and that solved the problem and I had my hiking trip organised. We continued in to town and whilst Sue Anne had some important bridesmaid dress shopping to do, I went for a look around China Town and Central Market:

I also got to meet up with my friend Ash from university who took me to try the famous Chicken rice before taking me to KLCC:

I got an early night ready for my morning hike before sunrise. In the morning I set off with three other couch surfers to conquer Bukit Tabur. We set off in the dark and as we climbed so did the sun to give us some amazing views:

Some bits were trickier than others and involved rock climbing:

so when we reached the top we were all pretty pleased:

After a sweaty and energetic morning i went back to Sue Anne's for a well earned shower and relaxed until she got back from voting in the elections. In the afternoon we set out to go to the Batu caves but when we tried to increase the tyre pressure at the petrol station we ended up with a flat tyre instead so after having difficulties changing the tyre even with a help from a number of people, Sue Anne's parents took me to my friend Emily's house. One of the other ski instructors, Tom, was also visiting so it was good to catch up with them for a couple of days although not much sightseeing was done. So I decided to book my bus out of KL and head to Taman Negara National Park.
I stayed in Jerantut at Sri Emas Hotel, it was very cheap!
I took a trip to the national park and met a Swiss couple on the way. Once we arrived we took the water ferry across the river:

...and when we reached the other side we were in Taman Negara:

We took a walk through the jungle past some pretty big trees:

to arrive at the canopy walkway suspended on rope bridges high up in the trees:

On our way back we even passed wild boar roaming around:

So after sneaking past them we made our way back to the river to take a boat trip all the way back to Jerantut:

My next stop was Cameron Highland so after another night in Jerantut I took a 'memorable' minivan ride to Tanah Rata to stay at the Cameronian Inn, Guess Why???

It was a lovely little spot to stay and the afternoon I arrived I went for a wonder around the local area:

The river reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

In the morning I tried out the homemade scones and local tea for breakfast before going on my Countryside Tour. The temperature in the Highlands was much more bearable and meant they could grow all sorts of plants they can't in other areas.
First we stopped at the rose valley:

...then a bee farm:

...and on to the main attraction; BOH tea plantation:

The tea plants looked like a green carpet over the landscape and I got to enjoy a cup of BOH tea while looking at the view.

After the tea Plantation we also visited a butterfly farm:

...a strawberry farm:

...and finally a local temple:

From the lush Cameron Highlands I went north to Penanag. I stayed with my host John and on the first evening we went running to the Botanical Gardens and the bottom of Penang Hill. It was way too hot for running but I made it...just! We had a quick water break before starting the climb up the hill. We made it about three quaters of the way but had to take the other route down towards John's house because it was getting too dark. But we did get a good night view:

We freshened up before going to eat and meet some other couch surfers including Emma, a maths teacher from Wales working in the city:

In the morning we went for a traditional breakfast, went to church, then enjoyed some fresh coconuts:

We took a drive around Penang and enjoyed some time at the beach:

The next day I went to Kek Lok Si temple with its famous pagoda:

...and 30.2m Kuan Yin statue:

Later I met up with my next host Ang at the Hainan temple:

The Hainan temple association owned an old building in one of Penangs jungle areas so Ang took me to stay there for two nights. When we arrived it was dark so the walk to the house was a bit of a challenge but when we got there I set up camp under my mosquito net and had a good nights sleep:

During the day Ang took me to the local fishing village, and introduced me to Yoga and meditation:

It was nice to relax at the jungle house even with no electricity or running water and the view wasn't bad either:

After my second night at the jungle house I ventured back in to the city to say goodbye to Malaysia and take a minivan in to Thailand.