Hey Everyone!

Once again we have got loads to tell you about! We are now in Southern Thailand and will be heading to Malaysia in a few days. It's going way too fast!!

Cambodia

Kratie:

We only came here to see the rare Irawaddy Dolphin and luckily we did! We had a small boat to ourselves with a driver who was just as eager to see the dolphins as we were which meant we got to all the good spots to see them. We took many a photo that only captured the water as they were too fast and us too slow! We enjoyed just sitting there scanning the water, both getting excited at every movement in the river. We both enjoyed it very much.

Siem Reap:

We stayed here as a means to get to Angkor. We spent the first day relaxing and took a trip out to the floating villages and markets. The village had a floating basketball court, Catholic Church and crocodile farm! It all was so incredible how these people live - the environment is just so different from home. We also saw Lake Tonle Sap the biggest lake in south east Asia. In the rainy season, the Mekong backs up and fills it whilst in the dry season it drains back into the river. When the current changes, there is a festival in Phnom Penh. The lake was beautiful and huge - you couldn't see beyond the horizon! The crocodile farm was a bit shoddy. Jonny held another snake - this time a python! It was huge! What scared me most was that, a girl of like 5 was handling it (as her job) and she had no fear! I was petrified. We spent a chilled evening in the much 'touristed up' town of Siem Reap where we excitedly shopped the night market and experienced a fish massage! We had to dangle our smelly feet into a pool of fish which was immensely ticklish. What's grim is that the fish nibble at the dead skin but we were happy to have smooth feet afterwards!

For sunset, we went to a mountain/hill near to the Angkor temples. The sunset itself wasn't special. We had thought it would be over some of the temples however it wasn't and some trees were in the way! What was incredible was the amount of people there to see it - if sunset was crowded then what would sunrise be like...

The next day we caught a tuk-tuk at 5.30am to witness sunrise at Angkor Wat. The temple was breathtaking and with sunrise it was beautiful. Forgetting the hoards upon hoards of Nikon camera breasted tourists, it was incredible to see. Yet, it felt bizarre that people were eating banana pancakes and drinking coffee at this big religious site. We walked around the temple amazed by it - the pictures will show you its beauty. Unfortunately, the main middle spire was closed off for repairs but Jonny sneakily snuck up for a peak! He was let down to only find sandbags!

We saw so many temples in our day's tour that we sadly cannot remember all the names. Many had incredible intricate stone carvings - of faces, battles and elephants. Our favourite one, The Bayon, had many turrets with carved faces on that are thought to be of the King mixed with a Buddha. At this one, you were able to climb and explore which we both loved. We saw the jungle one, featured in the Tomb Raider film, where the trees had started to grow between the walls. All of them, each very different, were remarkable. Although very tiring, we had a brilliant day. Our tuk-tuk driver was great but he told us he only earned $30 a month which saddened us a lot.

Thailand

Bangkok:

After a surprisingly quick and easy journey and border crossing, we arrived late in the evening in bustling Bangkok. We found a reasonable priced place (for Bangkok) and checked out the busy backpacker street of Khao San Road. On our first day, we visited the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo. The grounds and buildings were all grand - gold and sparkly and Wat Phra Kaeo had an emerald Buddha. We enjoyed seeing it all but it was just so hot that we were wilting under the heat. I was given a purple skirt to wear (which luckily matched the rest of my outfit!) and Jonny had to adorn a not so nice pair of blue trousers so that our ankles were covered to enter the temples! Afterwards, we saw the massive reclining Buddha at Wat Pho which was impressive and then headed to the weekend market on the local bus. It was huge! However, it started to pelt it down with rain and we immediately wanted to head back so we caught the skytrain home.

The next day we continued sightseeing. Unfortunately, The Temple of the Golden Buddha at Wat Traimit was closed so we headed to Chinatown where we had lunch and exploring a few of the market stalled alleys. We then went to The Golden Mount which offered us 360 degree views of the city. The path up to the top was lined with bells for monks to ring. I did not realise this and to Jonny's amusement a monk saw me ringing it!! I'm sure he was laughing too (hopefully!) We went to see the Standing Buddha which wasn't all that impressive so we headed back to the streets near to our hostel to shop! That evening we decided to have a 'night out' where we enjoyed a few cocktails while listening to a live singer in a popular bar.

On the day after our bus did not leave until the evening, so feeling Buddha-ed out we spent this day relaxing and catching up on our travel diaries.

Koh Samui:

Finally, some beach time! Although the weather forecasts were not positive we headed to the east coast island of Koh Samui. Thankfully, the sun was shining with no sign of rain so we were optimistic on the day we arrived. We spent the first day on the beach at Maenam (a bay on the north of the island) which was stunning. The sand was white and the water light blue! Truly, a picture postcard. The next day we decided to move hostel as we felt secluded and thought we could get more for our money. Fortunately, we managed to find a beach front 'villa' (a room with a bathroom) for a tenner a night! It had a balcony right on the beach which was incredible! We hired a jeep (an old Suzuki sport) for the day. We drove around the entire island seeing several gorgeous beaches. The jeep was so much fun even though it struggled to makes it's up some of the hills! I had to persuade Jonny to put it in 1st gear! A really good day!! We were so pleased to see the whole island.

From our beach on Koh Samui, we could see Koh Phangan. We did a day trip here as we didn't have enough time to stay there. We spent the day on the beach at Haad Rin where the famous Full Moon parties take place. We were a bit gutted that our visit didn't coincide with an actual party but the day we had was great. The beach was lovely and the water the clearest we have seen (let down by a few bits of rubbish). We played numerous games of bat and ball where we reached the grand total of 42 hits!! That evening, back at our 'villa' we devoured fish and chips! Jonny even had bread and butter with it! He was such a happy boy!

Krabi:

We left the east coast and arrived in Krabi on the west. Having missed out on elephant riding in Northern Thailand, we went elephant trekking here instead which was brilliant! We both went on the same elephant for an hour's ride through a jungle like environment. We both took turns to sit on the elephant's neck which was a bit scary but so good! The elephants were beautiful! We watched them swimming and we both had a go at showering them! It looked like Jonny was washing a car! I am so happy to have ridden an elephant! Afterwards we headed to Ao Nang beach which wasn't as nice as the beaches on Koh Samui but we did raise our bat and ball record to 47!

Tomorrow we are heading to Koh Phi Phi Island to catch some more rays!

Hope everyone is well. Love to you all,

Kirsty and Jonny xxxx