Thailand

Bangkok

We arrive in Bangkok full of excitement, find nice hotel just off the backpacker road and attempt to get acclimatized while jet lagged, drink vast, dirt cheep cocktails, doesn't help the jet lag but we felt much better.

We start to explore. Arrr... the Ko San Road, everything that's traditional about Thailand, ten minutes of this and we were wondering if we could survive our planned three days in Bangkok.

Ok, best bit of Bangkok, apart from the heat, fumes, insane speed obsessed tuk tuks, other backpackers who seem to out number the locals. Market day out of town, great place, fried locusts 50p/Kg, more if you want grub topping!

Koh Tao

Three days later we leave bangkok, interesting bus and boat trip to Ko Tao, otherwise known as paradise (or turtle island) and yes its as nice as it looks in the pictures. Negotiate (in by now fluent Thai) bargain rate for bungalow just above beach and we set about getting seriously sun burnt... i mean chilled out.

Stu ignores manufacturers instructions about not immersing camera in liquid and goes to sea. Simple really once you master diving 3m down, keeping the subject in frame, holding the camera steady and saying cheese in Thai.

Ok,After two days mastering the art of breathing water through a snorkel we decide to learn to scuba dive, Julie persuades me to learn how to do it rather than just hire the gear and go for it. Safe in the hands of hunkie 'beach god/dive instructor - Carlos' Jules takes to the water like a fish.

Jules ever fashion conscious, "does my bum look big in this wet suit."

Three days later we emerge as qualified divers :) now off to hunt for sunken galleons!

Even when not scuba diving Stu continues to find ever more dangerous ways to get into the water (perfect steady camera work courtesy of Jules Travel Productions inc.)

After a week on Koh Tao its time to move on (we have to keep reminding ourselves we are suppose to be traveling).

Koh Samui

Morning catamaran ride gets us to Koh Samui the largest island on the east coast of Thailand. After the small 'one horse town' feel of Koh Tao this feels a bit crowded...

...In search of a quiet corner we take to the traditional local from of transport (moped hire £2 per day). Samui has the highest traffic accident rate in Thailand but with our matching crash hats we show no fear!

A few pix to prove we can do something other than just lie on the beach all day. Climbed through the jungle (Jules becoming one with the bugs) to the top of a 80m waterfall, nice view, very hot, water very cold, bugs very spotted.

Phuket

After two days on Samui it's time (once again) to move on to the Andaman coast. Very early morning old wreck of a car ferry ride gets us to the mainland again. Then it's a 5 hour bus ride across the Thai peninsula to the hub of tourist ville, Phuket. Hire wreck of a jeep (but at least its got 4 wheals, just no speedo, handbrake, seatbelts, etc!) and head half an hour up the coast to Naithon, tiny little beach which seems to have slipped through the guide book net. Bugger we appear to be the only people on the beach again!

Spend the next few days just (you guessed it) getting 'scorcheo' on the beach. In an attempt to improve (the till now somewhat ropey underwater photography) Stu starts picking on critters which can't swim away, sea anemone and clown fish, urchin, crabs and baby barracuda (ok they can swim away but only slowly)

Similan islands

Goodbye Naithon beach (thanks Jim for the recommendation) and in search of high seas adventure our intrepid travelers book themselves onto a 'liveaboard' dive boat for 3 days to the Similan islands, a small scattering of islands 4 hours north west of Phuket. Departing from Khao Lak we spot the first of many animals.

Which brings us to our current luxurious floating hotel M.V. Nang Nuan. Basic might be a better description, (but full of character!) We shared the boat and the sleeping deck with seven other divers, two dive masters and three crew.

Between eating sleeping and diving we manage to find time to chill out on many of the islands. The park rangers popped over by boat to check our National Park tickets.

We manage to see some amazing stuff during 9 dives, including dozens of Stingrays, HUGE spotted shovel nose ray, white tipped sharks, scorpion fish, tuna, lobsters, numerous moray eels and about a million other critters far too groovey to mention. So groovey in fact that Stu didn't even let night deter him and armed only with a torch, took to the deep.

With only a few days left before we venture across the border to Malaysia we head south again to Krabi our last stop in Thailand :(

Krabi

Despite the name Krabi is very nice and we start to explore with a trip to 'James Bond island' it looks nice and calm now but just round the headland the waves are 3ft high which makes kayaking much more interesting.

Stu even manages to pull one of the locals!

Its time to make a dash for the border before our visas run out, we catch a bus then a sleeper train and beneath banners saying 'Death to drug traffickers' we arrive in Malaysia.

Pulau Pangkor - Malaysia

After 24 hours of travelling we arrive at Pulau Pangkor small island half an hour off the west coast of Malaysia. Now it's probably being totally unfair to the country as we only managed to spend a week there and see about a billionth of it, but it seems like a slightly down market version of Thailand. Still, the currys and sunsets were fantastic.

Singapore

What can i say, consumer Mecca, shoppers paradise, it feels so strange to see Starbucks again and the simplest things like real bread, wow. Very funky city, real buzz about it, western with a bit of asian thrown in. After downing our slings we set about exploring and treat ourselves to such luxuries as the cinema, haircuts and SHOPPING!

And so onwards to Oz, the last few days the excitement of getting to Perth and has been building to the point we can't wait. Thailand's been great, really fantastic country, tropical paradise, great food, really friendly people. Highs, learning to dive. Lows, can't think of any.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Oz we go...