With no time to even think about recovering from jet-lag, we were sailing the Andaman Sea from Phuket Town to 'Koh Phi Phi' promtly at 8 the next morning... The views were stunning...huge rock formations jutted out of the deep turquoise sea...I'd never seen anything quite like it elsewhere... I'll never forget the moment the harbour bay of Koh Phi Phi island appeared...think 'paradise' and it's a pretty accurate description. Palm trees. Blue water. White beaches...

And so it truly WAS to be the authentic Asian adventure.... never within the next few days could I have imagined to experience: *fried crickets and worms at a night market in Phuket *sip the infamous 'buckets' paddling in the sea at night on Koh Phi Phi island *trawl through its mud-ridden streets with backpack in tow as the monsoon weather hit *sail across the crystal-clear waters in a traditional 'longtail' boat to a secluded beach *camp overnight at 'The ...

THE ARRIVAL: FROM EPWORTH TO THAILAND IN TWO DAYS "We will shortly be commencing our 38 000 ft descent into Bangkok International Airport, where the local time is 7.30am". This was it... one bus trip, a train journey and 2 planes later, I had finally made it to Thailand. I was completely unaware, but 'Qatar Airways' is 3rd best airline in the world, in addition to being 'Airline of the Year 2011'. This was instantly evident on my flight - exceptional ...