Kirky's Adventures

Still under construction

Still under construction

Still under construction

Dates of travel:  June 2011

Trip route:  Flight from Phuket -> Phonm Penh –> Bus to Siem Reap -> Bus to Bangkok

A diverse country with a dark heritage.  Cambodia, with it’s warm-hearted people, took my breath away.  I will remember this country for the jaw dropping temples of Angkor Wat and the amazing friends I met along the way.

1.  Siem Reap

Simply one of my favourite spots in the world!  I took the very bumpy 7 hour bus journey from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.  On arrival, I checked into ‘The Siem Reap’ hostel.  Wow! What an incredible hostel!  This place is made for backpackers.  Incredibly cheap accommodation and it has the added bonus of a swimming pool.  One of the best hostels I’ve stayed in.  After checking in, I dropped my bags into my dorm room and met my new roommates.  Matt from England, Becky from Wales and Michael from Ireland.  Queue plenty of drunk evenings down pub street.  One of our favourite eating joints was down a side alley just off of pub street .  For as little as $5 you can feast on a traditional Cambodian curry and wash it down with a few beers.  Plenty of buckets and absinthe were consumed in this town.  My French buddies from Phnom Penh also joined the party, making for some wild nights out. 

So I can’t believe I’ve written a paragraph on Siem Reap without yet referring to the temples of Angkor Wat.  For me, it’s the people that makes a place so special and we certainly had a fun crew in Siem Reap.  The temples of Angkor Wat are stunning!  I urge you not to make the same mistake as I did and be sure to get up early to see at least one sunrise over the glorious Angkor Wat.  One too many drinks down pub street prevented me from making this feat.  There was one guy in our dorm who managed to go straight from a night out to see the sunrise!  Not sure how much of it he remembers!  To get around the temples we hired a tuk tuk driver for the day.

One of the highlights for me was visiting a child orphanage site.  We met an incredibly happy tuk-tuk driver in town (Mr Happy) who first took us out to the floating village.  I wasn’t a fan of the floating villages as it felt like we were trespassing.  There were a lot of strange looks from locals as we cruised down the river on our boat.  I’m certain the locals don’t see any of the revenue bought in by this tourism.  You could tell they didn’t want us to be here.  On the way back, Mr Happy took us to the child orphanage site.  Wow!  These are some of the poorest kids in the world with next to nothing, yet somehow they seem to be the happiest kids I’ve ever seen.  I was treated like a climbing frame with close to 10 kids trying to jump on me all at one time.  Good job they call me hulk!  I taught a few kids the Nicholas Anelka ‘Bird Eagles’ hand gesture and all of a sudden every kid was running around pulling out this gesture. 

Other fond memories of Siem Reap include:

·  Ke$ha’s – ‘this place about to blow’ on constant repeat in the nightclubs;

·  Michael, the Irish Teacher getting incredibly drunk one night and standing in front of the window in the dorm trying to find the toilets.  He’s one of those incredibly rare Irishmen who doesn’t drink much;

·  Walking back from a night out in Pub Street to be sold a much needed bottle of water by a kid.  Only to be told accused of trying to steal 5 minutes later by the shop owner.  The little kid had done a runner by this point and I ended up paying twice for a bottle of water.

2.  Phnom Penh

The capital of Cambodia.  I recommend only spending a few days here since there’s not a lot to see outside of the S21 prison and killing fields.  The prison and killing fields are a shocking reminder of Cambodia’s very dark past.  I struggle to think that all of this happened less than 40 years ago (at the time of writing!). 

I highly recommend staying at The 88 Backpacker.  Popular place with travellers for the low cost and swimming pool.  Cambodia seems to have some of the best hostels I’ve ever stayed in.  I had a very eventful first night in Cambodia.  I arrived in Phnom Penh after an overnight train journey from Bangkok.  I was a bit tired from all the travelling so decided to have a quick drink down in the bar and then head to bed.  Whilst down at the bar, the bartender called me over and asked if I wanted to see the ‘Menu’.  I was looking a bit confused at this point because I was quite happy sitting by the pool enjoying my beer.  The bartender then reached out under the counter, pulled out a menu and handed it over to me.  I couldn’t believe what this menu contained.  My eyes scanned down this menu which included activities from firing uzi’s at chickens to firing Rocket Launchers at cows and gas canisters.  I passed and decided to head to bed for an early one.  A couple of hours later, some rowdy French people checked into the dorm.  They had just arrived and were keen to see what the town had to offer.  This was my first time truly travelling on my own so when they asked whether I wanted to join, I jumped at the chance.  An hour later I find myself in a Cambodian discothèque; strobe lighting blinding my vision and surrounded by my new French friends who all seemed to have a bottle of spirit in their hands.  Evidently they found Cambodia cheap!  The French guys turned out to be legends and I spent the next few days exploring the city with them.  I got by on my basic GCSE French ‘Je suis alle au cinema’.  Fortunately they spoke fluent English, but not for the first time, I felt bad that I couldn’t speak a second language.  I would also link up with the same French crew down in Siem Reap (see above), which made for plenty of unforgettable nights.    

Still under construction

Date of travel:  December 2014

Trip Route:  Tokyo

My time in Tokyo was the result of a cheeky stopover on my way home to surprise the family over the Christmas break.  I only spent a few days here and it really wasn’t enough.  Tokyo now ranks as my favourite city in Asia for it’s diversity, high tech gadgets and culinary delights. 

Whilst here I wanted to try as many novelty things as possible, so made a start by checking into a Cabin hotel (First Cabin Akihabara Hotel).  This is an airport themed room that is sectioned off from other cabins by an unlocked shutter door (see photos).  The cabins are big enough for a bed and nothing more.  The hotel also housed vending machines which dispensed French fries and those funky toilets with a billion buttons that you always see in the movies.  It was definitely a fun & unique experience staying here and one that I fully recommend.  The location of First Cabin Akihabara Hotel is perfect, right in the centre of Akihabara with good transport links. 

I travelled around Tokyo via train.  A colleague of mine lent me a Suica card, which is Tokyo’s answer to the Oyster or Opal card.   Tokyo can be a bit confusing to navigate but thankfully Google Maps removes any language barriers by revealing what train and platform to take to reach your destination.

I was fortunate enough to two people whilst I staying in Tokyo.  Sean, a colleague of mine from Westpac who was travelling through Tokyo at the time on an MBA study trip.  Karina, a friend of mine from Brazil who was kind enough to give me an incredible guided tour of Sao Paulo whilst I was there for the World Cup. 

 My highlights of Tokyo (in order of preference) are as follows:

1.     Senso-ji Temple

This place has a certain awe about it.  From the minute you enter through the thunder gate; the walk through the markets; to the temple itself.  I’ve always been a fan of Buddhist temples and this one did not disappoint. 

2.     Meji Shrine

A leisurely stroll through the tranquil forests of Meju Jingu takes you to the Meji Shrine, a shrine dedicated to the defied spirits of the Emperor Meji.  And it is for this reason that many couples choose to get married here.  During my short time I saw 3 couples tie the knot, which made for some great shooting for this budding photographer.

3.     Akihabara

This place is a mecca for high tech gadgets, cameras, electronics and video games.  The shopping centres are huge.  Level after level of electronic goodies.  It’s worth popping into one of the video arcades, such as Sega, to get an idea of the scale of computer gaming in Tokyo.

4.     Shibuya Crossing

The Shibuya Crossing is a famous intersection and one that featured in the movie Lost in Translation.  Not that I’ve seen the movie or anything!  It is rumoured to be the busiest intersection in the World.  A swarm of people cross the intersection from all directions every few minutes.  I would recommend visiting at night to get the full effect of the neon lights.  Think Picadilly Circus in London or Times Square in New York.

 5.     Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

One of Tokyo’s largest botanical gardens.  The national gardens offers three different types of gardens  Japanese, French and English.  Not being biased but I think the latter was the better designed of the three ;).  The gardens are best visited during Autumn when the leaves change colour.  I was here in mid December and the park was holding it's own and very much retained it’s beautiful and diverse colour.    

 6.     Tokyo Imperial Palace

The main residence of the Emperor of Japan.  If tight on time than I’d recommend doing either the Shinjuku Gyoen Garden or the Imperial Palace.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the Tsukiji Fish Market, which was closed to the public over the festive season.  Definitely one for next time! 

Food joints / bars

1.     Umegaoka Sushi No Midori Sohonten in Shibuya

I’ve never been a huge fan of sushi but this place is amazing.  The place works on a ticket based system and due to it's popularity, there's often a huge queue.  So why not get your ticket in advance and play tourist on Shibuya Crossing for half an hour to pass the time.  We were lucky enough to sit at the front counter and watch the chefs prepare our meals right in front of us.

2.     Ramen

You have to try Ramen whilst in Tokyo!  I caught up with my colleague Sean in Akihabara for a traditional Ramen in a very small restaurant.  Orders are placed at a vending machine.  Pick up your ticket and then hand this over to the chef in the kitchen. 

 3.     Bars

Be sure to check out the smaller and quirky bars.  One of the bars I visited was very narrow with no chairs so you are forced to stand at the bar making conversation with everyone.  I use the word 'forced' lightly ;).

Date of travel:  July 2011

Trip route:  Train from Bangkok -> Vientiane –> Bus to Vang Vieng -> Bus to Tha Khek -> Bus & Boat to 4,000 islands -> Boat & Bus to Champasak  Pakse -> Bus to Pakse -> Bus to Luang Prabang -> Flight to Vietnam

Laos was one of my first true travelling experiences.  I left my friends at the Muay Thai training camp in Thailand to venture into the unknown.  Some time to travel by myself and throw myself into the deep end. Situations I wouldn't normally find myself in.  I was on my own.  And I loved it.  It gave me time to reflect and really appreciate the beauty that the country had to offer.  One mistake I made is not travelling the country logically, if you look at my travel route I zig-zagged up and down the country, starting of the middle then going all the way down before coming all the way back up again.         

1. Vang Vieng 

One word - 'Tubing'.  Wow, what an experience!  When I was first told about tubing, I pictured myself gently floating down a river and casually stopping for a beer on the way down.  The key details missed out from this vision, is how strong the river current is and just how crazy the bars are.  This might explain some of the horror stories you hear about tubing.  The journey starts by renting a tube in town, which includes a tuk-tuk ride to the start of the tubing route (cost: less than $10 USD).  The first bar on the route is Q-Bar.  Once you've had enough of a bar, you simply throw your valuables into a dry bag and jump into your tube, floating down the river to the next bar.  When you like the look of a bar, you signal to the locals on the shore that you would like to come in and they will pin point throw a water bottle connected to a rope for you to grab and pull yourself ashore.  Along the tubing route expect plenty of buckets, drinking games, volleyball and water slides which propel you into the river.  

The town of Vang Vieng itself is quite small.  The food joints are very relaxed and always appear to play constant re-runs of Family Guy and Friends.  The iced coffee in this little town is amazing!  In the evening, head to Q-Bar in town for a good night out.

Tips:  
1. Don't take too many valuables tubing and make sure you have a dry bag for them. 
2. If you are going to swim down the whole way then bare in mind that it’s about a 30 minute journey from the last bar to the town centre.  Make sure you keep to the left when the river splits in two (there are no signs for this). It’s quite a tough swim as the current is so strong and the drinking doesn’t help. If it gets late then you can always get a tuk-tuk from the last bar back to the town centre. 

2. Luang Prabang

Very beautiful city. It's clear the French had an influence on this town with an abundance of high quality coffee and bakery shops. My personal highlight was travelling to the waterfalls - Kuang Si Falls.  At the entrance to the falls, you will find a bear sanctuary.  The centre was set up to care for bears rescued from illegal wildlife trade.  I spent the day rope jumping into the pools of Kuang Si Falls and swimming in the picturesque turquoise waters.     

3. 4,000 islands

My first stop was Don Det, one of the islands in the Mekong river. Life in Don Det is incredibly basic and relaxed.  I spent a lot of time lying in the hammock outside my shelter, whilst enjoying a beer, a book and overlooking the Mekong River.  I strongly recommend hiring a bike and cycling around the island of Don Det and crossing the bridge to Don Khon. Things to see include the rice fields and the  Khon Phapheng waterfalls.

Tip:  There are no ATMs on the island so be sure to take plenty of cash before you leave. It’s worth hiding US dollars in your luggage for emergency purposes.

4. Tha Khek

I arrived here after being told of a motorbike loop which stops of at some impressive caves.  However, Tha Khek did not go according to plan for me.  It started when I arrived on a local bus at 2am and having no idea where I was.  I started walking down the streets, looking for somewhere to spend the night.  I didn't feel safe roaming the streets at this time and with a backpack over my shoulders I was a walking target.  Luckily I managed to flag down a driver and get a tuk-tuk to a nearby hostel.  The next morning, I found out that the whole area was flooded so unfortunately there would be no motorbike tour for myself.  Probably a relief for the mother.  I packed up and left Tha Khek the following day.  I'm still ranking this in 4th place because of all the positives I've heard about the motorbike loop and if you are interested in something different then this is the perfect opportunity to venture off the beaten track.

5. Champasak

I took a day trip to visit the ruins of Wat Phu. Unfortunately, I had visited the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia a few weeks before so I'd already had my months supply of temples.  If you've been to or planning to go to Angkor Wat then I wouldn't go out of the way to visit Champasak.

6. Vientiane 

This is the capital of Laos but really doesn't have much to offer.  I toured the city in a day and that was enough for me.  

7. Pakse

There's nothing here but a great curry restaurant.  Pakse was a stop-off on my way down to the 4,000 islands.

Other tips

1. Visa can be purchase on arrival for around 30 USD.

Still under construction

Trip 1 – Rugby World Cup

Date of travel:  September 2011

Destination:  Auckland

I’ve always wanted to soak up the atmosphere of a Rugby World Cup and what better place to do it then New Zealand where rugby is so much more than just a sport.  It was a bit of a last minute trip planned from the comfort of the sofas at the Habitat Hostel in Melbourne.  England had made it through to the Quarter Finals to play arch-rivals France in Auckland and myself and two close friends (Zoe - little KP and Rich) knew we had to be there. 

The main purpose of this trip was purely for the Rugby World Cup.  In traditional backpacker style we stayed at the Nomads hostel.  The atmosphere and buzz around Auckland was incredible.  The people were very excited that the Rugby World Cup was being held in their back yard and were very welcoming. 

We hunted out the location of the hotel where all the England players were staying and decided to go for a little stalk in the off-chance we’d bump into some players.  We managed to make our way into the press conference room without anyone stopping us and posed for a few photos where the managers would typically sit for media questions.  Our luck was certainly in later on when we bumped into none other than the legendary Jonny Wilkinson.  Honestly the nicest sportsman I have ever met!  Jonny is dedicated to his rugby but unfortunately this tie around he was having a bit of a shocker at the World Cup!  He happily posed for photos and was very thankful after we wished him all the best for the upcoming game.  I recall being a tad nervous taking a photo of Rich and Jonny, so much so that my fingers were shaking whilst I worked out how to take the shot.  Star struck moment! 

On match day we did our best to look the part.  England rugby tops were donned and faces painted with the St George cross.  Our journey to the stadium started off in the centre of Auckland and took us 4 kilometres to Eden Park Stadium.  Along the way we made plenty of new friends, stopping off at bars and sharing a drink with the enemy.  That’s the great thing about Rugby, sharing a drink and having a bit of banter with the opponents.  There were countless jokes with one fan dressed up as a cow.  He was definitely milking it!  Udderly ridiculous.  The face paint was huge success, I’ve never been stopped so many times for photos in my life!  T.V. and radio presenters also wanted in on the action.  The atmosphere in the stadium was electrifying.  The chant of ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ sent shivers down my spine.  Unfortunately the result didn’t go our way.  I have to say whilst the face paint worked a treat on the way to the stadium, it made for such a painful journey on the way back.

The rest of our time in New Zealand was spent soaking up the rest of the Rugby World Cup action in the fan zone, fun nights out around the viaduct and exploring the city.  We also joined the Nomads hostel free tour of the city.  Our first stop was the Sky Tower.  The tour guide initiated a game of heads or tails.  If you called it wrong then you moved away from the circle and if you called it right then you moved closer in.  3 calls of heads in a row followed by tails left me as the winner of the game.  The tour guide then asked that I look directly up to the very top of the building. “Congratulations.” He said.  “You’ve just won a free jump off the building!”  There was no time for me to be nervous for a few minutes later I found myself heading up the lifts of the Sky Tower to the very top.  I’d just won a body harnessed bungee jump off the top of tower.  I have to say, it’s a very surreal feeling walking across the platform ledge right at the top of the tower, knowing that you’re just about to jump off a building!  Who does that?  I remember looking down from the top.. the streets looked so narrow.. cars and people were just colourful dots.  I’m never one to back down from a challenge so jump I did.  And what a feeling and incredible rush free falling is.  Luckily, that wasn’t to be the only adrenaline activity for the day as a few hours later I found myself bungee jumping off the Auckland Bridge.  New Zealand is definitely the place to be for outdoor adventure and adrenaline junkies.

Other highlights of the trip (in order) include:

·  Rangitoto island – had a very scenic walk across the island.  It wasn’t planned!  We just took a wrong turn and got lost.  We were walking for hours across the hills and coastaline of the island.  Even through people’s backyards!  It ended up being a very nice walk but I was glad when we got back to the ferry port.  

·  Volcanic crate of Maungawhau / Mount Eden – fantastic views over Auckland.

·  Kelly Tarlton’s Sea life acquarium – nice day out but if you’re in a rush then I would avoid this.

Trip 2 – Kiwi Experience

Date of travel:  December 2013 – January 2014

Trip Route:  Flight from Sydney -> Christchurch -> Train to Greymouth -> Poo Pub -> Franz Josef -> Lake Wanaka -> Queenstown -> Milford Sound -> Queenstown -> Lake Tekapo -> Christchurch -> Flight back to Sydney.

My second trip to New Zealand was over the Christmas of 2013 for the Kiwi Experience tour.  I took the flight from Sydney to Christchurch where I would join the bus.  Christchurch was in a phase of rebuild following the huge earthquake that hit the city a few years prior.  My sister was staying there during that time and was lucky enough to have fled the day prior.  Christchurch reminded me of playing the computer game Resident Evil.  It was like a ghost town.  The damage was everywhere to be seen.  I spent half an hour walking around the city on my first night looking for a place to have dinner.  I stopped at an Ibis hotel asking for recommendations for dinner.  Restaurants were few and far between that they provided me with a map with all the main restaurant locations.  In the end I found a nice pizza joint just on the outskirts.  Christchurch was very unique and well worth a visit.  Shipping containers have been used for make shift shops in the mall.  The city is developing all the time with a vision to be the most modern and likeable city in New Zealand.

The following day I caught the Tranz Alpine train across the spectacular Southern Alps to Greymouth where I would join the Kiwi Experience bus.  The bus stopped at the following locations which I have ranked in order of preference: 

1.  Queenstown

This place is breathtaking and a haven for high adrenaline sports.  I love this little city.  Main attractions include:

·  Nevis bungee jump - Highlight of the trip has to be the Nevis bungee jump.  The bungee is the third tallest in the world at a whopping 134 metres.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) I was the first out of our group of 4 to jump.  The Christmas dinners making me the heaviest in the group!  My legs were shaking as I tip toed my way along the highwire platform and the Nevis River Valley became clearer.  The adrenaline was pumping through my body and I was so excited to do this.  The scariest moment is when the weights are dropped over the edge of the platform and you feel a slight tug bringing you closer to the edge.  I posed for a photo in front and to the side.  My breathing was heavy and heart pounding.  I took one big breath and then leapt  out as far as I could.. arms spread wide as I was senthurtling towards the river.  Not bad for a guy who is a little bit afraid of heights!

·  Fergburgers – these burgers are unbelievable.  Once you have a fergburger you’ll never want to go back to regular burgers.  There is a always a huge queue outside this little gem so I’d recommend calling in advance or ordering and then wondering around town for a bit. 

·  Skyline luge – you can take the gondola up to the top of Bob’s Peak but I would encourage you to take the beautiful trail up to the top.  The luge is a fun activity and like a kid, I ended up queuing up a few times.   

Whilst in Queenstown we stayed at the Nomads hostel.  Definitely the best Nomads I’ve stayed at.  Very wintery feel about the place and even has a log fire in the lounge.  Nightlife in Queenstown is amazing.  We did a bar crawl for New Years Eve which was one of the best I’ve ever been on.  I had one very very drunk night out in Queenstown which started off in the Buckaroo bar under the Nomads hostel.  This place is how I picture a Canadian Chalet bar.  Large stuffed bears, big wooden tables and a buckaroo in the middle.  The second time on this I asked the operator to crank up the settings to the fastest available.  The bull absolutely owned me, throwing me over the horns and sending me smashing into the side.  What started off as a quiet night out in the Buckaroo bar ended up being a huge night as Findlay and myself painted the town red.  We even stopped off at an ice bar. It’s a good to experience but the novelty wears off after about 10 minutes.  

2.  Franz Josef

Being away from the family at Christmas is always tough but I couldn’t have wished for a better place to celebrate.  Sydney never has the Christmas vibe.  It lacks the cheesy Christmas songs on the radio, the decorations and even the cold weather.  Franz Josef is a glacier located on the West Coast of the south island of New Zealand.  The venue was perfect for Christmas!  We stayed in a cozy chalet that was decked out with Christmas decorations and had a log fire!  It felt so refreshing being up in the mountains with the cold air hitting the face as soon as you step outside.  It was even a white Christmas!  Well kind of, butwe could see snow on the top of the mountains!  We ventured out for a morning walk across the National Park before lunch.  Christmas lunch was celebrated with new friends who were mere strangers a week before.  The chalet put on a well cooked Christmas buffet.  Everything to make this Englishman happy!

On boxing day, we took a helicopter up to the Franz Josef glacier and hiked through the maze of ice.  It’s definitely worth forking out the cost for the helicopter ride.  Fashionable blue snow jackets and snow boots are included in the price.   The cold fresh air definitely helped to get over the sore head that I had in the morning.  Views from the helicopter and glacier were breathtaking.  It really showcased the natural beauty of New Zealand.  Has to be the best hike I’ve ever been on!  The price also includes free access to the hot pools which is a perfect spot to warm up the muscles and soothe any post hike aches.    

3.  Milford Sound

Milford Sound is a fjord within the Fiordland national park.  This place is hyped up a lot and often referred to as one of the natural wonders of the world. The place is spectacular but I expected a lot more.  It might have had something to do with the rain, but apparently it’s always raining in this place and without the rain then you wouldn’t be able to get the full effect of the spectacular waterfalls.  Nevertheless, well worth taking a day to visit this place.

4.  Christmas Party - Poo Pub

Unfortunately the Kiwi Experience bus no longer stops at the Poo Pub.  This place is certainly unique and iconic.  It’s really just a pub in the middle of nowhere!  This was the first stop on the Kiwi Experience bus for me.  It presented a great opportunity to make new friends as there is really not much to do here.  I spent a bit of time during the afternoon playing touch American football down by the Lake with my fellow travellers.  In the evening, we had a fancy dress themed Christmas party for which I sported some red swim shorts and a Christmas customised white singlet.  Very Aussie!  Fun evening of drinking, partying and getting to know the people whom I would be sharing the kiwi bus experience with.

5.  Lake Wanaka and Lake Tekapo

Not sure whether I can differentiate between these two.  This is what New Zealand is all about… Natural Beauty!  There’s not really much to do in either place but soak up the beauty of the lakes.  

Still under construction

Dates of travel

Dates travelled

Trip 1:  May 2010 – June 2010

Trip 2:  May 2011 – July 2011

Trip 3:  January 2015

I feel like I’ve stopped here quite a few times now but barely scratched the surface.  The reason for this is my love of Muay Thai.  The first two visits were to a Muay Thai training camp in Phuket.  Contrary to the other pages on this website, this one I’ve spit out in chronological order and not order of preference.

May 2010 – June 2010

1.  Bangkok

Most backpackers tend to head to Khao San Road but I opted to stay a bit further out.  I hired a tuk-tuk driver to take me around the city for a whole day.  This cost next to nothing and took in most of the major sights.  The reason it cost next to nothing is because the driver stopped off a couple of times at gem stores.  I wouldn’t buy anything here but pretended to act interested.  The driver receives fuel vouchers for bringing tourists here, which in turn subsidised the cost of my travel.  Be warned, that drivers may often tell you that the Palace is closed in order to take you elsewhere.  It can operate on ‘peculiar’ hours but I would advise you to see it first hand before you reach this conclusion.  Key highlights include the Grand Palace, Sleeping Buddha and Wat Arun.  I also stopped off at the famous Chatuchak Markets which sell everything under the sun from live animals to ‘designer’ brands.

2.  Phuket

I spent most of my time here training at the Tiger Muay Thai training camp near Chalong.  I won’t go into too much detail here because you can find further information about the training camp under the blog section of this site.  Coincidentally, whilst I was here one of my best uni friends ‘Luke’ was also travelling Thailand with his mates Simon, Chris and Patrick.  I decided to take a days break from the hard training and join up with Luke for the day.  I was expecting Luke to be staying in basic accommodation, he was travelling after all.  However, it was completely the opposite.  As soon as I opened the huge front doors my eyes widened as the apartment opened up onto this spectacular pool.  The apartment had everything!  Sound system throughout the home; gym; barbeque area; cinema and they even had their own taxi driver and maid.  It turns out it was Luke’s uncle’s house, who just so happened to be a Global Director for the Discovery Channel.  All of a sudden one day turned into 5 days.  I joined Luke and the rest of the boys for a night out in Patong which was crazy!  I’ve never seen anything like it!  The following day we ventured out to Phi Phi.    

3.  Phi Phi

Phi Phi is a beautiful island and hands down my favourite spot of the trip.  We ventured out on a boat cruise during the day which took us around the picturesque island, stopping off at the famous Maya Beach.  Very chilled day, sipping beers on the boat, jumping off the top deck of the boat into warm turquoise waters. 

Simon celebrated his birthday out here.  An all day drinking session took us to the Reggae bar, which has a Muay Thai ring in the middle!  Perfect setting for me to showcase some of my new skills.  The bar was packed with stands full of people surrounding the ring.  Simon was game to get in the ring with me.  Both of us would receive a bucket of alcohol for entertaining the crowd.  Plenty of people were betting on our fight and appeared to be backing Simon, the bigger of the two of us.  The bell rang for round one and Simon was coming out all guns blazing!  He clearly wanted this!  I slipped a couple of body kicks in.  Now what happened next went in slow motion for me.  Simon tried to hit me with a big overhand right, I weaved underneath this and lined him up with a big roundhouse kick to the face.  BAM!  He falls to the canvas, towel thrown in and I raise my hands in victory.  The story goes down in folklore to be told countless times again by my good mate Luke who was in the ring celebrating.  That night, I did feel like a bit of a hero as many people approached me at the beach party to talk about the sweet chin music.  I did however receive my comeuppance at the half moon beach party that evening as I attempted to jump through a burning fire hoop and ended up with a grade 2 hamstring tear which would see me out of action for the next couple of weeks.  Ouch! 

After plenty of fun with the boys in Phi Phi, I returned to the training camp for a few days before jetting off to Koh Samui for the last leg of my trip.    

4.  Koh Samui

Typrically a stop off for people heading down to Koh Phangan for the full moon party.  Not much to see on this island but it does make for a good night out.  I stayed on Chaweng beach which was a nice place to recover from my torn hamstring.  I recommend visiting the ‘Library’, which is a pool that looks red.  Really cool place.  The World Cup started whilst I was here and I watched the first game with my new American buddy Quintana in a bar.  Was hoping to give him a bit of stick because England’s first game was against the USA.  However, a howler from Robert Green meant the points were shared.  For nights out there’s a U-shaped loop which you head down and has plenty of bars / clubs to offer.

From Koh Samui, I went onto Koh Phangan.  It was out of season so there was no full moon party for me this time around. 

May 2011 – July 2011

Again most of my time was spent at the Muay Training camp.  I formed a great friendship and pact with the boys Chris Benson, Mitch May, Ashlee Westover and Joe Boobyer.  We referred to ourselves as the ‘Brit Pack’ and had great fun training together.  Other places visited during this trip include: 

1.  James Bond Island

Took a days break from training to head out to the James Bond island with the newly formed Brit Pack.  Plenty of flexing on the boat to show off our new carved bodies, which were the results of hard work and an intense training regime.  Ash and I were constantly rapping Dr Dre’s ‘Things just ain’t the same for Gangsters’ and whenever somebody wanted to talk they were often cut off by ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ as made famous by The Rock.  Funny and relaxing day with plenty of photo opportunities.

2.  Koh Phangan

Home of the full moon party.  I recommend booking accommodation as close to Haad Rin as possible.  We stayed in the north of the island which was 40 minutes and an expensive taxi journey away from all the action. Many places in Koh Phangan are not advertised online and if it is advertised online then it normally requires 3 nights minimum stay.  I’d recommend Black and White if you are stuck for places to stay. The best nights out in Koh Phangan tend to be the nights leading up to full moon.  Cactus bar is a good place to head for cheap drinks and they tend to more alcholol in the buckets than the other places.  The full moon party itself was crazy!  We spent the whole night walking from one end of the beach to the other with plenty of places to stop in between such as skipping over a burning rope. 

January 2015

I stopped over in Thailand on my way back from London to Sydney after surprising the family over Christmas.  I stayed in Bangkok to break up the journey but the main reason for stopping off here was the easy access to Ayutthaya.  I’ve always been a huge Jean Claude Van Damme fan and Ayutthaya was the setting for one of my favourite movies of all time ‘Kickboxer’.  Van Damme spent time training in the ancient City of Ayutthaya which has a fantastic backdrop of beautiful temples.  The city used to be the capital of Thailand and was both the largest and wealthiest city in the whole of Asia until the Burmese invasion during the 1760’s.  Fully recommend the elephant ride option where you can spend half an hour riding an elephant through the ancient city.  Great place to visit to learn more about Thai history and take in the Buddhist culture.  The city is driving distance from Bangkok so I hired a driver through the hotel to take me round the city for the day. 

Whilst in Bangkok, I was also hoping to see a Muay Thai fight at the legendary Lumpinee Stadium.  Unknown to me, the old stadium has now been shut down and replaced by a new one which is located way outside of town.  I didn’t end up going to the new one as it’s quite a distance out of town and everyone I spoke to would tell me different things about whether the fights were actually on that night and the quality of fighters taking part.  I decided to go to a local stadium but it was only kids fighting.  Foreigners, or ‘Farangs’, are always required to pay more than the locals to get into the arena.  It’s quite a scene to see the locals gambling on the outcome of every fight.  Gambling often starts at the end of the 1st round and I often found that fighters who didn’t appear to look good during round 1, come out as a completely different fighter at the start of the second.  Muay Thai is the number 1 sport in Thailand and a huge part of the culture so definitely get yourself down to a fight.

Dates of travel:  July 2011 - August 2011

My venture started off in Hanoi, after a short flight from Laos.  There was the option to take the bus but I heard this is a 20hr + trip and the windy / bumpy roads do not make for pleasant travelling. 

I purchased a bus voucher at Hanoi Backpackers, which gave me the option to hop on and off the bus as I travelled down the coast to Saigon.  For Vietnam, you need to purchase a visa before arrival for around $55 USD.

1.  Halong Bay

I booked this trip through the ‘Hanoi Backpackers’ hostel, which is one of the biggest backpackers in the whole of South East Asia.  It’s a bit of a party hostel and the trip itself much like a booze cruise, which is perfect for making new friends.  For me this was Jeremy and Amit who were both from my University town of Loughborough.

I highly recommend the 3 day / 2 night option.  The views of Halong Bay are simply spectacular.  The first night we spent on the boat and the second night on a secluded island.  The 3 days consisted of: kayaking; exploring caves; water sports; jumping off the top deck of the boat and plenty of drinking games.

2.  Hoi An

The town for all your tailored clothing needs! A new tailored suit will will set you back from as little as $100 (after a bit of bargaining).  I purchased my tailored shirts from B’Lan and suits from Mr Xe.  Almost looks as though I've been shopping on Saville Row.  Great fit!  Mr Xe even posted my new suits to Australia since I was running low on baggage space.  Be sure to spend at least 3 days in Hoi An as you can’t expect the suit to be perfect within 24 hours.  You need to allow time for adjustments.  Check the buttons and seams for quality.

I did a cooking lesson in Hoi An at the ‘Morning Glory cook school’.  In the morning, they take you to the markets to learn all about the ingredients you are cooking with (herbs, spices, vegetables, fruit, fish).  Then it's back to the classroom to prepare 4 traditional Vietnamese dishes including Vietnamese rolls, a soup and chicken w/ salad.  The dishes looked and tasted incredible!  Unfortunately, whilst they do give you the recipe, I don’t think I will be able to replicate to the same standard.

3.  Sapa

I booked this 2 day trip through Hanoi backpackers.  The journey started with a train from Hanoi up to the mountains of Sapa.  There were plenty of 90's tunes being played in our train carriage with new Dutch friends Carlijn and Kim.  We spent the day trekking across the beautiful mountains and rice fields of the North of Vietnam.  Along the way we encountered plenty of water buffalos and stopped for the odd swim.  We spent the night at a homestay with a Vietnamese family.  The family served us traditional Vietnamese food.  During the meal, a different member of the family would constantly approach the table with a bottle of rice wine.  A shot would be poured for each guest and a toast made to 'good health'.  It felt rude to turn this down and safe to say by the end of the night we were all fairly drunk.  

The following day, my journey back to Hanoi did not go quite according to plan.  Everyone else seemed to have their train ticket, whereas I didn’t.  I was required to meet a tour guide in town who would hand the ticket over.  However, when I arrived in town it felt like every man and his dog wanted to help me or more likely sell me something!  I finally found the person who had my train ticket.  Unfortunately for me, I rudely ignored him when he first approached me.  It took a lot of begging and persuasion for him to finally hand over the train ticket with only 5 minutes to spare.  Motto of the story: don’t ignore everyone trying to help you!

4.  Phong Nha Farmstay

Sometimes it’s a good idea to rip the itinerary up and try somewhere different.  This was definitely one of those occasions.  I went here purely based on a recommendation I received whilst in Hanoi.  It’s a bit out of the way.  I jumped off the bus a Dong Hoi and took a taxi to the Farmstay, which is run by Ben (Aussie) and his wife Birch (Vietnamese).  I felt incredibly welcomed.  One of the reasons for visiting the farmstay is it’s close proximity to some of the most impressive caves in the world.  A few years ago they discovered the largest cave in the world here but unfortunately at the time of my visit it was not yet open to the public.  We did see some impressive caves and our guide told us plenty of fascinating stories from the Vietnamese war.  In one of the caves, we saw an engrained image of what looked like a young girl (check out photo).  The guide had never seen this before and was very spooky after all the war stories we had been told about.

5.  Mui Ne 

Stop here for the beautiful red and yellow sand dunes.  This was one of the rare occasions I got up early to attempt to see the sun rise over the dunes.  Typical that it would be a cloudy day and I pretty much missed the whole thing!  There are plenty of kids selling slides down the dunes for a few bucks.  I hired a scooter in Mui Ne as the town is spread out.  Not much traffic on the roads so felt great biking along the coast with the wind blowing through my hair.

6.  Dalat

Very very beautiful place! I paid a driver to take me round on the back of a scooter the whole day and show me the real Vietnam.  We ventured out into the jungles where we were almost attacked but wild dogs.  Luckily one us remained calm (the driver!) and 'we' were able to fend them off.  We went to a waterfall which you access by your very own roller coaster!  You have control over the speed as you wind down the track to the base of the waterfall. Many of the tour guides promote a visit to the ‘crazy house’ but for me it felt like one of those places I visited just for the sake of saying "I’ve been there!"

7.  Nha Trang

The beach party town of Vietnam.  I completed my open water PADI scuba diving license whilst here with Rainbow Divers.  Very affordable and professional company.  I had the pleasure of being filmed throughout the whole process by a Vietnamese TV station.  I’ve never seen the footage but I’m sure it’s cringeworthy.  At first, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to scuba dive,  My ears were killing me whilst practicing in the swimming pool.  However, it was a different story when I was out in open water and I cope fine.  I was equalising every 30 seconds and didn’t have a problem.  For me, scuba diving here was on a par with the Great Barrier reef in Australia!

I've heard plenty of stores about people being mugged in Nha Trang due to a lack of police presence after midnight.  Stick to the main roads and take taxis where you can and you should be fine!

8.  Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City)

I stopped here for the Cu Chi tunnels, which are a network of underground tunnels used as hiding spots during the Vietnamese war.  Here I also got my hands on an AK47 for the first time!  I couldn’t really gage how good my shooting was but I reckon I was constantly on the money.  Whilst here, I stayed at the Saigon Backpackers Hostel.

9.  Hanoi

Be sure to stay at the Hanoi Backpackers on Ma May.  Very modern and busy hostel so I recommend booking in advance.  You can see the sights and sounds of Hanoi in a couple of days.  I used Hanoi as a base for a week due to it’s close proximity to Sapa and Halong Bay.  They have Cobra shows in town where you can drink cobra blood and even eat their heart.  More POWER!  I passed on this occasion.

10.  Ninh Binh

Picturesque little town.  I paid for a local Vietamese to drive a boat around the windy rivers of Tam Coc.  I felt a bit lazy when I realised the driver was powering the boat using his feet, whilst I laid back and soaked up the beautiful scenery.   

11.  Hue

Not much to see here at all so I only spent a day walking around the citadel.  Most people stop here to break up the journey travelling along the coast.  I stayed at and recommend Hue Backpackers hostel for accommodation.