Malaysia - Penang, Cameron Highlands, and Kuala Lumpar

Mini tour of Malaysia

Another chance for a change of scene from Bangok, here's a quick write up of a recent mini tour of Malaysia.

Koh Samui trip

Koh Samui

One of the big challenges of living in Thailand is choosing which island to visit next. With several hundred of them to choose from ranging from well developed destinations back to empty beaches there is something for everyone.  Koh Samui has long been a favourite destination for travellers so I thought it was definitely time to visit there myself.

Setting of from Surat Thani - Samui is just on the horizon

Benjakiti Park, Bangkok

Benjakiti Park

Now that the weather is cooling here slightly in Bangkok it's much easier to do more physically active outdoor activities. This weekend I followed a recommendation on another travel blog to go rent a bicycle and do a few laps of Benjakiti Park in central Bangkok.

2km circular bike trail around the lake was excellent

South Coast Road Trip in a VW Campervan called Mango

Iain Clements & Abi Hesketh-Roberts June 2013

This post is a bit of a departure from my usual Thailand adventures as I took my summer vacation back in the UK this year.

Abi and I recently ticked a long awaited holiday item list by going on a mini road trip along the south coast in a classic VW Camper Van called Mango. We just made a note of some of the places we stayed along the way and some other information about the trip.

The Van

Mango, rented from RetroCamperVans in Guildford

http://retrocampervan.com/

Mango by Beach huts in Studland Beach

Buy a house or a 2nd hand BMW in Thailand

How much is that car?

A colleague of mine in the office recently commented that cars are madly expensive here in Thailand. I hadn't really thought about this before, but then I saw an advert for a used 2009 BMW X3 for a "bargain" 2.2 Million Baht!

[Source: http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/bmw-x3-new-2009-04-16]

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

An easy day trip from Bangkok to the most popular floating market.

Main entrance

Morning visit to Wat Arun

Wat Arun

One website I checked out recently stated that there are over 31,200 temples in Thailand :  (http://www.watarun.net/).

A couple of weekends I finally made it to one of the best know, Wat Arun, or the temple of dawn located on the south side of the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok, opposite to the Grand Palace.

Full profile on Wat Arun: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Arun

Wat Arun, a very impressive site

Birthday trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap

To celebrate turning 32 this year Abi and I took a short hope across from Bangkok to Siem Reap in Cambodia. Here's a quick write up of our trip.

Angkor Wat site

Koh Chang escape April 2013

Koh Chang

Paradise, just a 5 hour bus journey away

So, after a few weeks stuck in Bangkok it was time to escape to an island again for the weekend. Having a long weekend for Chakri day here in Thailand was a good excuse.

I've been here for a few months now and I've only visited 3 leaving about another 1,400 to visit apparently (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Thailand).

Getting there

So, getting to islands is always going to come down to a choice between time and cost. For about £50 - £80 GBP (depending on when you go) you can fly down to an airport in Trat with Bangkok Airways and drastically cut short your travel time or for £5 you can take a 5.5 hour bus journey and then the 1 hour ferry crossing to Koh Chang.