Day 143

We got up while having breakfast we watched a pilgrimage of 200 Buddhist monks pass by the restaurant it was really something to see with their bare feet and brown carrier packs.

In the afternoon we went to the Dead Railway Museum which was dedicated to all the people who lost their lives making the death railway between Borneo and Thailand. It was the inspiration for the film “The Bridge Over the River Koi”. The Museum was very informative and gave a non-bias account of what happened there and the picture of how many people died there and what the conditions were like. Afterwards we visited the POW Graveyard that was outside.

Yvonne gave my hair a well needed chop taking at least 4 inches off it, it looked healthy again, then we had dinner and packed up to be ready for the next morning before an early night.


Day 144

We had a long drive day to get to the town where the ferry left for Koh Samui. We arrived at the hotel, which was really nice compared to the hotels we stayed at before had some dinner and headed to bed.


Day 145

First thing after breakfast we had a big truck clean as we were leaving the truck very shortly and had to have it clean for the boat trip back to England. We spent nearly 3 hours scrubbing the insides clean and taking the black off all of the pots and kettles; it was hard work as it was well burnt on. We finally finished and jumped into the shower and threw out of sooty black t-shirts as all our truck cooking was over until Australia.

We got back onto the truck and headed to the ferry port to catch the 3pm ferry. We had lunch at the port and I had the hottest chilli sauce of the trip so far. It burnt the mouth off me. We all loaded onto the ferry and set off on our hour and half boat journey through the islands of Thailand to Koh Samui. We arrived and go into our disco taxi and headed to the hostel “Monkey Samui”. The hostel was nice and the staff very friendly. Our dorm walls were all glass with peach curtains which was strange but it had air con so we were happy.  We went down to the beach and ate dinner in a bar on the beach and sat on the beach a la Shirley Valantine and had a few drinks on the beach with some of the others on the trip.

We spent the evening organising the dive trip in Koh Tao.


Day 146

We were up at dawn and off to the catamaran port to go to Koh Tao.  It was pretty quick going over and we stopped off at two other islands on the way. I realised on the boat that I was eaten alive by mozzies the night before, 30 bite on one leg alone, it must have been the hostel we stayed in. We arrived at 9am and checked into Crystal Dive Resort.  We had our dive review in the afternoon as we hadn’t been diving in a while with our dive instructor, an Irish guy named Keith from Cork. It was really nice to get into our dive gear again and refresh all the basics again.

In the evening we went out for burgers for dinner and had a drink in the resort bar and watched the dive videos of the groups who passed their tests that day. They were really cool and showed a lot of wildlife. We were excited to go diving the next day. We headed off to bed early as we were up early the next morning.


Day 147

We were up early and down at the centre to get kitted up and onto the boat for our first dive. It was great everything was ready for you on the boat so all you needed to bring on was your BCD and fins. There was so much space to set up compared to the boats at home. We got set up, had our initial briefing and we set off. We were given our first dive site briefing by Livvy our dive master and what we expected to see at it. We kitted up and off we went under the crystal clear water. We had a slow easy dive with loads of time to see the fish around us including parrot fish, angle fish, a sea snake and blue spotted ray. It was so colourful and loads of fun. We came back up on a high after our first taste and couldn’t wait for the next one.

We got back on board and changed our tanks and were back upstairs on the sun deck for the second roll call of the morning and briefing for our second site. It was so much fun to be in the water again and to be paired up with Yvonne made it even better. We saw loads more fish including prawns, barracuda, crocodile fish, butterfly fish and trigger fish. The Trigger fish are the most aggressive fish on the coral so we were warned to stay a safe distance away from them. They were so much bigger than the other fish we saw in the water. We came back up to the surface and back to the centre by lunch time. We had to wash our tent for the boarder control in Australia so we set to washing it, poles, pegs and all. It took a good 2 hours before we headed down to see the town of Sairee Beach and enjoyed an afternoon swim on the beach before a good walk back to our accommodation we finished off the tent and headed for dinner in a nice Italian restaurant then back to bed for another days diving on the next day.


Day 148

We were up and off to the boat for going dive day on the boat. It was a great day with 4 great dive locations, mango bay, white rock, twin peaks and Lean Tian. We saw so much marine life, juvenile sealip fish, trigger fish, little and big grupers, blue spotted ray, clown fish, bat fish, enemy fish and lots more. We played in the underwater playground called buoyancy world, with loads of opstical courses and things to swim through, it was great fun. We were jumping off the top deck of the boat and watching the rescue course going through the motions and enjoying the sun all day. When we eventually went in to dock we were tired, excited and a little burnt.

We found out that the local restaurants had a roast dinner on a Sunday so we went out for a roast Chicken dinner, it was massive the plate was huge it took up half of the plate and it had loads of veg, chichen and mashed potatoes on it. YUM YUM. We were getting the ferry the next day so we stayed out for a bit chatting to some of the divers we were diving with and exchanged stories and advice on diving and travelling. It was a nice evening but by 11pm we were exhausted and headed home to pack up and bed.


Day 149

We were on the ferry by 9 and very sorry to be leaving Koh Tao and vowing to be back again really soon. We got back to the hostel on Koh Samui and first thing I realised was how many mozzies were around. We got in touch with the girls that were staying further down the island and arranged to meet up with them for the night and stay in their hotel. We picked up our bags and hopped into a local taxi and off we went to Lani to check in to their fancy hotel. First thing was into the pool to wash away all the days travelling and enjoy the view out over the beach before dinner. For dinner we had a seafood bar-b-qued it was amazing, a whole fish,3 crabs, 6 prawns and 2 squid. God we were so full after it we could barely move.

We left the restaurant and stopped to pick up breakfast for the next day on the way to Swing Bar where they had a fire show on. We got comfortable on the front row of deckchairs and watched the show, I was so amazed at how good they were and mad jealous I didn’t have mine. Half way through the show Gayle got one of the guys attention and asked if I could have a go, he wasn’t too sure but let me have them. I was on cloud 9. It was so much fun. I went back to the table after shaking with nerves and excitement.

We then played limbo with a fire poll that didn’t go too low and I won a t-shirt, this was turning into the best night ever.  To my amazement one of the guys came over later in the night and gave me them again and let me have a longer go, even relighting them for me it was SO COOL. I was the happiest person in the bar. When the fire show was over we danced until the small hours then headed back to the hotel for a few hours’ sleep before heading for the ferry at 5.


Day 150

We arrived at the ferry and slept most of the way back to the truck and set off for the Malaysian boarder. We hadn’t got much sleep the previous night so we slept for most of the day on the truck. The boarder was pretty easy and the truck didn’t take too long to go through. We stopped for the night is a rough but ready hotel. We were so tired from the diving and the night out that we got dinner and went straight to bed.


Day 151

We drove to Kuala Lumpur and arrived there in the late afternoon and checked into the hostel for 3 nights. We had dinner in the massive shopping centre that was straight across the road for the hostel and did a bit of shopping. We were on the hunt for high heels for Will’s (our diver) fortieth birthday in Singapore. We spent hours walking the 11 floors to find shoes to go with our tailored dresses from Vietnam. We were all shopped out by the time we found the shoes and went back to the hostel to catch up with the others and hear about their time in Koh Samui. Time was getting precious as 4 people from the truck were leaving in Singapore.


Day 152

We explored the Chinatown markets picking up the last of our Christmas presents and admiring the knock off hand bags. It was amazing the quality went from really good to not so good. We really enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the stalls. We finished off our afternoon there with a look around the Christmas shops that lined the side streets. They were just like Donal’s at home just on a much bigger scale with every kind of decoration you could imagine including a signpost that said “Let It Snow” very strange in 30 degree heat.

We got back to the hostel and started on the repack taking out anything that was to be sent home the next day and organising our bags as we were leaving the truck at the next stop. It took most of the afternoon to get sorted and labelling the things going home. We then did some internet chores and went for dinner and chatted to the group in the bar before bed.


Day 153

We packed up our box for the post office and sent it off after sitting outside the post office packing and filling out forms for the package with 6 others from the truck. When we got it sorted we went back to the hostel and had a day of looking for places to stay in Sydney.

In the evening we went to see the Patronas Towers and enjoyed their dancing fountains before heading home to bed


Day 154

On the way to Singapore we stopped off in the port town of Malaka, once the largest port town in Malaysia for trading spices and goods of the Fareast during the times of the East Indian Trading Company. We went to the Maritime museum which was a wooden ship with loads of information on Malaysian external rulers and their influence on the country. While we were in the boat it started to pour down rain for the rest of the afternoon spent in the town. We got soaked and eventually dried off in the truck on the way to Singapore.

We left the truck at the Singapore boarder and lugged our bags through the boarders and onto a bus to the hostel. We all looked like turtles carrying our homes on our backs. We arrived at the hostel, checked in, changed money and went in search of dinner. We were staying in Little India so we headed to a local Indian restaurant and had the best Indian food I’ve ever had. After dinner we headed back to the dorm, got set for the big day out the next day and headed to bed.


Day 155

We woke late and went for dinner before getting ready for the celebrations for Will’s Birthday starting in Raffel’s home of the Singapore Sling. It was great we were all dressed up and everyone looked really different to our usual backpacker clothes. We stayed in Raffel’s for a drink, then when we were leaving Raffels we said a very sad goodbye to Nick and Julie as they were off on a cruise for the next part of their adventure and headed to Orchard Towers and went from a disco bar to a live music bar where we stayed for the rest of the night before McDonalds and home.


Day 156

We got up late and had a lazy day. Before going to the Night Safari we heard that the ferry to Indonesia was broken down so we had to book flights to Jakarta and stay in Singapore an additional night.

The Night Safari was a great opportunity to see the nocturnal animals in the night. We spent 4 hours wandering between the lions, tigers, bats, bat monkeys, weasels, mouse dear, tapir and rinos. It was great. When the Safari closed we headed home to bed.


Day 157

We went to the day zoo after lunch and saw loads of animals in large enclosures with loads of space. The zoo is twined with Australia Zoo that is supposed to be the best Zoos in the world and it really shows, each animal was very comfortable in their areas with some mild interaction with the public. We had a great day and got to see whit tigers, pigmy hippos, leopards, zebras, giraffes, maerkats, Warthogs, ringtail lemers, seals, penguins and orang-utans. It was a great day out.

We then headed down to the dock for the evening in Boat and Clark Quay. It was a busy place full of people ready for a great night out. We were leaving in the morning so we headed back and packed up praying our bags were under weight.


Day 158

We were up packed and said another sad goodbye to Adam, Cozzy and Wayne staying behind and heading off on another adventure. We were at the airport by 1, checked in and waiting for our flight by half past. We wandered around the airport and eventually boarded the flight off to Jakarta.
We got a bus and taxi to our hostel, it was run by an Irish guy who was really sound. It was apparently much nicer than most hostels in Indonesia. We got pizza and watched Twilight Breaking Dawn movie in the hostel cinema area in prep for the Cinema the next evening.


Day 159

I spent time catching up on my diary in the morning while Yvonne talked to our tour leader about a job that she is taking for the month of January leading a tour group for four weeks.

In the afternoon we went to the Planetarium where we were adopted by a group of teenage girls with lots of questions and “you are beautiful” “so white” “pretty nose” madness. We enjoyed the show even though it was in Indonesian. When we got back we had some dinner from the street seller at entrance to the hostel, he came well recommended and was delicious, fish balls with egg, veg and potato in broth.

That evening we headed out to the cinema and enjoyed the last Twilight movie, Lindsey was so excited.


Day 160

We left Jakarta behind us and got a train to Yogyakarta. The train ride was a long one 8 hours, but it gave me time to catch up on my diary and a great view of the paddy fields and jungle that the train tracks cut through.

We arrived in Yogyakarta in the pouring rain and there was a mix up with the hotel so we had to wait a while before it was sorted. When we got to our hotel for the next few nights it was not very nice so we went to dinner and Karen set out to find another for us for the further two nights.


Day 161

We were up and moved to the second much nicer hotel by 9am the next morning. It had a pool and much nicer, cleaner rooms. We jumped straight into the pool and cooled off before going to explore before the rains started again. We booked a tour to the ancient temples the next day and had an afternoon catching up on some sleep. In the evening we headed out for dinner in a local restaurant with really good Indonesian food and amazing chocolate mousse for desert.


Day 162

We were up and on the bus at dawn to go and see the ancient Buddhist temple of Borobudur and the ancient Hindu temple of Prambanan. They are older than the temples at the Ankor Complex in Cambodia but just as amazing. They are severely affected by earthquakes and a lot of the smaller temples have crumbled as a result.

The Hindu temple has the story of a kind prince wanting to marry a beautiful princess and her condition was that he had to build 1000 temples in one night. With the help of the spirits he built 999 and she saw this and rose dawn early so he could not complete it. He got really angry and turned her into stone and built the 1000th temple around her.

We were approached in both temples by students learning English to have conversations with them as practice, in Borobudur we had no problem with this until they all started crowding around us asking us to fill out their forms for their teachers and to take photos as we were heading back to the bus. We didn’t offer to talk in Prambanan as we thought we would get stuck again.

In the afternoon, we booked our place to stay in Sydney and started to catch up on our blog. At dinner time we went to the place down the road and ate and chatted with the group which was now a small group of 10 before going back to the hostel to Skype Eva’s christening and bed.


Day 163

We got up and packed and were on the overnight bus to Bali by 1pm. It was an 18 hour bus ride, with a ferry crossing to get to Bali. The bus was comfortable enough but the aircon was set so low that we were all freezing for the night. We used extra blankets off seats that weren’t being used to keep ward. It was not the best night’s sleep ever but certainly not the worst.

Day 164

We arrived in Bali bus station by 7 and we grabbed taxies to the hotel we were staying in. It was lovely an amazing pool and very confortable rooms with big beds and a clean bathroom. We went for a swim and them explored the area, checked out the shopping mall and beach before coming back for another swim, dinner and an early night.

Day 165

We were very tired from the overnight bus so we slept in and had a day of internet jobs and updating the blog as it was cloudy and we needed to catch up on our blog. We went out to a lovely restaurant on the main strip for the evening and had amazing seafood lagasane for dinner. We were the only people in the room which was nice and we sat and chatted for a few hours.