The Blue Skys of Bali

After touching down in Bali during sunset Lauren and I started our adventure to Kuta Beach to find accommodations. More on that later... Let me catch you up on our short stay in Railay and Malaysia.

After leaving the bucket crazed mayhem of phi phi Lauren and I and Darren and Sophie, a couple we had been traveling with, stopped for a few nights in Railey, a climbing mecha beach community on the east coast of Thailand's Peninsula.  We decided to treat ourselves to 2 nights in a "resort" mainly a place with hot showers and A/C but we were disappointed when we showed up and we had neither. After a quick polite word with the front desk we found ourselves with a free upgrade to their luxury room twice the price we had paid with everything we wanted and more. After checking in we headed for a local BBQ where I enthusiastically picked out the largest crocodile skewer to try for the first time, and Lauren went for the safe chicken skewer which looked just as good. I was greatly surprised by the rich taste and tender meat that I was brought, much better than the quality of beef they serve here ! Lauren gave it a shot and loved it as well.  I will definitely be eating Crocidile in the future.

The weather in Railey turned out as we feared but it didn't keep us from enjoying some of the cool features of this beach paradise nestled amongst 300+ ft cliffs. We walked the beaches, went on a cool jungle hike to a beach normally only accessible by boat, and explored some remote caves with only bats as company.

Diamond Cave Entrance

Cliffs around Railay

As we boarded our longtail boat to begin our journey to Malaysia, we were sent on our way with a beautiful sunrise framed by placid seas... Looking back on all we experienced in Thailand it's  hard to imagine we were there for only a month. We have made great friends along the way and shared amazing unique experiences.

Our boarder crossing and trip to Malaysia was the least hectic and most comfortable yet, putting u In a good mood on arrival in KL. at first I thought Kuala Lumpur would be more like Bangkok but it ended up reminding me more of Hong Kong, with a huge middleastern and Indian influence. The city was concentrated and the building were beautiful and huge. This included the shopping centers/complexes. We utilized the cities monorail system and a hop-on hop-off tour bus service to see the city while we were there. We visited the city's orchid and hibiscus gardens, the Petronus Towers, Times Square, Chinatown, Little India, the National Art Gallary, and KLCC the posh city center in KL where we actually saw real designer products, not just knock-offs, for the first time on the trip. KL was fun but Bali is better.

Hibiscus Gardens

Petronas Towers

Little India

@ The Aquaria

Our first day in Bali was relaxed, just what we needed!! We started our day with some scrumptious banana pancakes courtesy of out hostel and headed straight for the beach. You can immediately tell this is a surfers destination with long boards lining the broadwalk and hundreds of sitting surfers on the horizon waiting for the next wave. After a few hours watching the beginners stand up and fall down in continous rhythm, we had caught the surfing bug and headed out there ourselves to give it a go. It was tons of fun!

Kuta City Center

After a late and much needed lunch we ran into an old friend of ours, Elle Moseley. For those who dont know, Elle went to Uni with lauren in Manchester and was studying abroad at UW when Lauren and I met. She has been spending her last 7 weeks in Padang Padang and leaves today on a mission with her bf Sam to catch the biggest swells on the other islands as its apparently been flat around the Bukit Peninsula the last two weeks.

The plan as of now is to get out of the crazy tourist packed beaches of Kuta and head to the more secluded beaches south on the Bukit and then make our way leisurely to Lombok and Gilli T, surfing snorkeling and diving along the way.

Popping the dive cherry on Koh Tao!

It has been an exciting five days on Koh Tao to say the least. On the ferry from Chumpon to Koh Tao we coincidentally reunited with our friend Darren who we had met in Koh Chang as few weeks back.  He was traveling back to Koh Tao with Sophie, his girlfriend, who had just arrived in Bangkok from the UK.   Darren had just finished his Padi Open Water Cert. at Phoniex divers on the island so we took it on his advice and arranged to do the same as soon as we arrived.  The dive shop was really laid back and not crowded at all, unlike Ban's the biggest diver operation in the world located less than 50 meters down the beach. Just what we were looking for. Plus the free 4-day accommodations landed us in the best rooms we have stayed in since our 5 star treatment in Bangkok. 

Daren and Jack moved on to Phi Phi while Jason Lauren Sophie and I  remained in Koh Tao.  With Lauren and Sophie doing all the academic and pool work that I had already done in the states, Jason and I were able to explore Koh Tao which was uncharacteristically calm thanks to the Full Moon Party drawing most travelers to Koh Phangan just an 1hr boat ride away.  We stumbled upon an amazing and beautiful chill bar called the High Bar perched a ways off the beach, high up on a cliff.  Here is a picture of the view we enjoyed as we played some pool and sipped on a couple of large Changs. 

Sunday, I joined Lauren and Sophie for our first two underwater dives. Jason even joined us for our third and fourth dives at 6:45 the following morning.  All in all the dives were amazing!  We saw so many different types of fish and marine life: Angel Fish, Great Barracuda, Puffer fish, Clown fish, moray eels, Trigger Fish, the girls even saw a Bull Shark! It was an awesome experience that I'll never forget and I'm glad I was able to share it with Jason and Lauren as well.  Here are some pictures we have taken over the course of the process.

One more night in Koh Tao and then its off to Phi Phi tomorrow night and one last night with Darren and Jack before Jack must return home.

"You pay later"

Firstly just to catch you up on our journeys, myself and Wilbur met up with Jason in Siem Reap. And although we didn't get to tour Angkor Wat together i know we all appreciated the wonders of the temples. As it happens though, fate brought us back together again on the top of a temple to see the sunset amongst hundreds of other travelers.

One of the things we found to love in Cambodia was the traditional Khmer food and their love of BBQ!  Here is a picture of the local dish we enjoyed, where you get to cook your own meat at your table.

On out last day in Siem Reap while buying postcards we stumbled upon an unknown gem on the Cambodian coastline called Sihanouk Ville. Although our initial plans were going to keep us in Cambodia for a few days, we loved it so much we wanted to experience more. So from just one picture we decided to make our way in that direction instead of back to Thailand.

Sihanouk Ville is a little up and coming tourist destination with several upscale lodgings being developed close by and renovations taking place all over the town. Despite the construction there is a great atmosphere down at the beach day and night with tons of little beach side restaurants and bars with great BBQ and sun loungers on the beach.

Cambodians are very persistent in selling their services to you. At every possible point your are offered TukTuks, drinks, accommodations and seats at their establishments. It is impossible to stroll down the beach without being hassled or hustled in one way or another. Kids will come and sit on your sun lounger and practically demand you buy a bracelet, or women come by every two minutes offering massages and pedicures. This gets old quickly and although w\you may stand firm in the beginning eventually you end up buying 5 bracelets have a pedicure and then a manicure and even get your eyebrows plucked at the beach. A strange experience for sure. One first tactic was to phase having no money...in the end this didn't work as they only say "You pay later" and begin their work on you anyway.

Tomorrow we make the long 11 hour journey to Bangkok and then straight down to the southern thai islands to continue our beach break.
Thats all for now

-Lauren

Paradise Island

So far our stay in Koh Chang has been a dream, after ariving in a horrid downpour and miserable cloudy skies we have had days and days of beautififul blue skies, even the locals claim its a miracle. This has been the most relaxing time on our journey by far, mostly we have been spending our days lounging on the beach with an occasional dip in the ocean and our nights at the local bars to get our free buckets and BBQs. With bare few people around its really been a time to tuck into our books and sit back and soak in all the vitamin D we can get.

A couple of days ago William and I rented mopeds and made our way around the island. This in itself was an adventure to tackle the winding roads where the taxi (trucks) drive like madmen and take over the road. Thankfully we made it with no problems (so long as William is driving that is!) and only a near run in with the biggest snake ive seen as it made its way across the tarmak, to a little fishing villiage called Ban Bao. Being about the only tourists around it was great to just wonder the pier and take in some of the island life. We also managed to find a secluded bay where you could wade out in the water and at low tide make your way across to a little island just opposite.

After a few very chilled out days we decided it was time to do something a little bit more adventurous, so early one morning we went all over to round up all the people we have met out here on the island and try to hire a speedboat to venture out in the surrounding seas. Somehow we managed it and William was able to sweet talk a local diving company to give us a great deal on a boat. Baring in mind we only paid a little bit more than the normal 'tourist snorkelling trips' which are overcrowded and only stop at certain spots, we ended up with a boat all ourselves with our little group of 10 people and three boathands to take us to wherever our hearts desired.

We ventured out to a surrounding island called Kai Wai which took about 45 minutes, where we all sat up deck enjoying the ride, listening the music and sipping on Chang. The local guys took us to a bay surrounded by a corral reef, where we were assured we would have the best visability. So we put on our flippers and snorkels to explire the under the sea. The day went by so quickly as we hopped from bay to bay, snorkelling and swimming to secluded beached, racing hermit crabs and jumping of the top deck. All in all probably the best 500 Thai Bhat ive spent so far, we only wished we could have stayed out longer or had more Chang in the cooler!

We will miss our friends that we have met but plan on meeting up again in Koh Tao after we go out seperate ways in the morning. Cambodia here we come!

Beaches BBQ an Buckets

With Jason and Nick heading into Laos, Lauren and I have made the trip south to our first of many islands, called Koh Chang. This is an island covered by a lush jungle and surrounded by golden sandy beaches. We are here during the low season and it's practically empty... Juat enough backpackers to create a great atmosphere at night. Every night a local bar has a special with free BBQ and buckets(redbull alchohol and coke),and specials on the Thai beer Chang.

We stayed the first night in a beach hut but after an encounter with a local snake we decided Lauren would sleep easier in an actual room.

Lauren and I spent our morning lying on the beach and skipping this wicked ball across the water with a couple of guys we met the night before from England. Even though today was the first blue skys in the last few days, the beach was only dotted with a few tourists!

We will get a picture of the beach, snake and the place we are staying as soon as we get off the iphone and to an actual computer. We are headed back to the beach for dinner... I wonder how Laos is treating Jason and Nick? Guess we will have to wait for a post just like you.