Swimming with sea turtles

So this may not seem like a big deal to you, but we’ve been trying to find turtles since the first day of this trip over 3 months ago.  In fact, the main reason for our trip to Ko Tao was to find some. We were under the impression that since Ko Tao means “trutle island”  that the waters around it would be filled with turtles.  It turns out that the island got its name because it looks like a turtle, not because they live there.

We meet a couple in Boracay that told us that they saw a bunch of turtles during their trip to the Gili islands a few years before. The Gili islands are a group of 3 tiny islands between Bali and Lombok. These islands are so small that you can walk around them in about and hour and kayak between all three. Our first few days in Bali were spent in the Kuta area, crammed with more Australians and drunk people (wait…I think those two are the same) than Phuket.  It didn’t take us very long to hop on a boat to these fabled islands to try and find some sea turtles.

When we arrived at Gili Trawangan we were pleased to see their were no motorized vehicles allowed on the island. A few donkey carts were waiting for to pick up the passengers who, for some reason, thought having a rolling suitcase was a good idea when traveling to islands with sand roads.  Sam and I talked t0 a lot of people with a lot of different opinions as to which island was the best to stay on.  So instead of taking their word for it we decided we were going to stay on all of them!

Luckily for us the change in plans as paid off. We’ve seen a few turtles everyday we gone out snorkeling. They are amazing t0 watch, when they swim it looks like they are flying, and the way they chomp on coral makes me very careful that they don’t get to close to my fingers. Also luckily for us the turtles are not shy around people, allowing Sam to take over 400 photos of them (not joking).  Hope you enjoy some the the best pictures…Well, see you later.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Yesterday we woke up at 5 am, tossed on our clothes and went for a 10 k bike ride.  Why, you ask? Well, it wasn’t for fitness, it was to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, and it was well worth it.

I’m planing on doing a full post about our time in Siem Reap and Angkor, but for now I’ll leave you with a few of the over 200 pictures we took during the sunrise.  Enjoy, and see you later.

Amazing Laos

This post is well over due since its been about 3 weeks since we left Laos.  I went into Laos not really knowing what to expect, really just going to add it to my list of countries.  I left having fallen in love with the county and counting the day until I can return.

We spent almost two weeks, and since we had such little time we only did the northern area of Laos.  We started in Vientane then up to Vang Vieng and ended in Luang Prabang.

Funny story about this Monument below.  It was built with cement that the USA give to Laos in order to build a new airport, causing some to give it the nick name “the vertical runway”.

Vientiane is the current capital of Laos and it made a very good first impression on us.  After  a month in Thailand, and dealing with hawkers always trying to get you to buy something, or rip you off in some way, our guards were fully up.  We soon learned this was not so necessary in Laos, in fact I think we might have offended a few people in the beginning with our untrusting ways.  Not only were the people very friendly and laid back, but the city was much cleaner than Thailand, which was a little surprising considering Laos is much poorer of a county.  Mix that together with what the french gave them during their colonial day (mostly buildings and the technique for baking good bread) and you are left with a very nice place to visit.

The next place we visited was Vang Vieng, which is a small town on a river, famous for inner tubing.  In fact a little to famous for the locals liking.  Last year about 25 people died on the river due to to much beer and bad decisions (mostly  Australian, which is to no surprise to anyone who has traveled in SE Asia).  This led the local powers in charge to close down all the river side bars and to close the larger nightclubs near the river.

This didn’t matter to us at all, the inner tubing down the river was still super fun and relaxing.  We just brought our own beer from the town and kept it cold in the river, saving us thousands of KIP (a few dollars).

We also spent a day Kayaking down the river, which was a lot of fun.  You get to see more of the river by kayaking, but Sam and I both enjoyed the tubing more.  It was just so peaceful, and relaxing.

After a few relaxing day in Vang Vieng, we headed to our last city in Laos, Luang Prabang.  Getting there was the longest 7 hours of my life.  The road we took snaked though the mountains, up and down, side to side.  And although the scenery was beautiful, the bad roads and the motions of the van had everyone feeling green.

Luang Prabang is an ancient capital city of Laos, filled with a very interesting mix of Buddhist temples and French architecture.  The city is so interesting that most of the downtown area is listed as a UNESCO site.

Besides sight seeing in Luang Prabang, we also rented a motorbike one day and took a 30 km drive though the mountains to get to one of the coolest waterfalls I’ve ever seen.

Swimming in the falls was amazing, despite the cold water.  There was also an Asian Black Bear sanctuary within the park which was great to see.  Asian Black Bears are farmed all over Asia (including Korea) for their bile, which is used in Chinese medicine.  These Bears are basically tortured their whole life, and it’s been proven the the bile has no positive health benefits.  In fact it may be dangerous for people to use.  This is an issue that was first bought to my attention while living in Korea, and it was great to see that at least a few bears have been saved from poaching and bile farms and now get to live a happy life.

Anyways, back to the main topic.  After Luang Prabang our time in Laos was over.  We had a great time, I can’t wait to go back someday, and I recommend anyone traveling South East Asia to make a stop in Laos…Well, see you later.

Halong Bay

Halong Bay is one of the most popular places to visit in Vietnam.  Not surprising since it’s so beautiful it’s listed as both a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the new 7 wonders of nature.

Located on the northern coast of Vietnam about 3 hour drive from Hanoi and made up of almost 2000 islands we decided that instead of trying to do it on our own we would book a 3 day cruise.

Package tours are not really our favourite way to travel, (in fact we avoid them at all costs) but even though it was the most expensive  thing we have done so far, it was well worth every penny.  We picked a tour company (Indochina junk) that offered cruises away from the popular day trip destinations (there can over 100 boats on the bay at any time), which was great, we never saw more then 2 other boats and it made it feel as though we had the bay to ourselves.

The cruise itself was more fun than i initially thought it would be.  We got to go kayaking, swimming and we visited a floating village.  One of the days we even ventured to an island owned by Indochina junk where we played soccer in the sand and enjoyed a romantic dinner in a cave. We also met a few really nice people on the boat and our tour guide, Tony, was great.

I’ll stop boring you with my words now, since even if I was a skilled writer I wouldn’t be able to do justice to the beauty of Halong bay, and let you enjoy the pictures…Well, see you later.

Ancient cities of Thailand: Ayutthaya and Sukhothai

So after taking in the beaches in the south and the city life in Bangkok we headed north to take in some history.  Ayutthaya and Sukhothai are ancient city states that helped to build the modern county of Thailand, and are both listed as UNESCO world heritage sites.

We started in Ayuttaya which is just an hour or so north of Bangkok.  The city is on and “island” formed by the crossing of three rivers, and all over the island are huge, old temple ruins.  The size and amount of temples in one area was truly amazing.

Next, it was off to Sukhothai, which was very similar to Ayuttaya.  The main differences being that the ruins in Ayuttaya are bigger, but the modern city has popped up all around the different sites.  Where as in Sukhothai the new city is 10 km down the road, and they have turned the ancient city into a park.

I enjoyed visiting them both, although the history is better preserved in Sukhothai, I liked Ayuttaya better.  Mainly because I thought the temples there where bigger and more detailed…Well, see you later.

Panoramic Photos of Thailand’s beaches

So we just spent our first full day in Bangkok, and I must say it’s not nearly as bad as I thought it would be after seeing “hangover 2″.  That being said I find myself already missing the beautiful beaches of southern Thailand.  So though I would do a quick post to show a few of the pics I took over the last 2 weeks.

“The Beach” – Koh Phi Phi Leh

Koh Phi Phi Don at sunset

Long beach- Koh Phi Phi Don

Koh NangYaun

And this is Bangkok, taken early today.  I still like this photo but doesn’t have me wanting to jump on a plane to go there like the others do…Well, see you later.

Swimming with sharks on Koh Phi Phi

Koh Phi Phi has been my favorite place so far in Thailand, it so small that there are no cars or scooters on the island and everything is much slower and calmer, especially coming from Patong beach. There’s so much to see and do around the island that we ended up staying for 3 nights instead of one and didn’t even get to the beaches until the third day.

The highlight of our time though, had to be swimming with sharks. There’s a coral patch not to far off the main island where black tip reef sharks like to hang out. We had to be out on the water at around 6 am before all the boats scared the sharks away. And it was well worth, in total we saw about 10 sharks, with the largest being about 2 meters big. Definitely an unreal experience.

We also did all the other things one does when on Phi Phi, like visit the smaller island were the movie the beach was filmed, and drank large amounts of booze from buckets at night….Well, see you later.

Merry Christmas from Phuket

So this is my second Christmas away from Canada in a row, which has me missing my friends and family a little bit. But I must say that Christmas in Phuket is a lot better then in South Korea.

We’ve been in Patong beach for three days now which has been a lot of fun. Patong is maybe the most popular beach on Phuket and known for it’s nightlife, which means there are way more Australians and Russians here then Thia people. It been a good relaxing few days to start our long trip, but we are ready to try get away from all the tourists, which may be difficult.

Tomorrow we are off to Ko Phi Phi for two night which we are both super excited about. We already have plans to going swimming with sharks, visit Monkey beach, and go on a booze cruise. I’ll try to keep posting as I go…Well, see you later.

Top 12 Photos of 2012

So 2012 is almost over which means it’s time for my top photos of the year.  This years list is a little shorter then last years, Sam and I only made it to 3 counties this year.  But we are starting a 8-10 county tour next week so I guess next years list will be a long one.  So in chronological order here’s my list of the top photo photos of 2012:

This is Cagsawa Church in the Philippines, which was brunt down in 1814 when the Mayon Volcano erupted.  We went to the Philippines to swim with whale sharks which you can read about here.  Unfortunately none of our pictures in the water turned out, but this one was good enough to make my list.

This one was taken at the Seoul Lantern festival which is held in honour of the Buddha’s birthday.  You can read about it and see more photos here.

This was maybe my favorite thing we did in Korea, the Boryeong Mud Festival which you can read more about here.

Tokyo Tower, which was modeled after the Eiffel Tower.  I prefer the original but it does look cool all lit up at night.

Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto.  Kyoto is one the my favorite places I have ever been to.  There was so much to see and do I could even fit all into one blog post.  You can check out many more great photos from Kyoto here and here.

The sunrise on Mt. Fuji.  We climbed all night in order to get to the top to watch the rise, which was well worth the effort.  You can read the full story here.

Sam and I at the highest point of Mt. Fuji

This is the Atomic Dome at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.  It was the most moving place I’ve ever been in my life.  I didn’t write about it because I don’t know how to put the feeling I felt into words.  All I can say was it was very moving and anyone who get to visit Japan should go out of their way to visit the park.

Me at a Lotte Giants Baseball game.  Although you may think by the guy next to me I was making a scene, I can assure you I wasn’t.  Korean’s (expect this one guy) know how to do baseball.  The guy taking the picture had a full size folding table set up with a mini BBQ!!  Your allowed to bring in anything you want as long as it’s not glass, including as much beer as you want.  And if you run out you can just buy some more for $2!!  I would love to see this at Blue Jay’s games.

Same and I on Jeju-Do, which is Korean’s sub tropic island.  The guy we are standing with is the official mascot of the island and can be found all over it.  This one however, is one of the 40 or so originals dating back over 250 years.  Read more here.

Sam and I after attaching our love lock on the top of Namsan.  Read more here.

Taken at Haedong Yonggungsa Temple in Busan.

I hope you enjoyed the pics, I’m going to try to blog as much as I can from the road the next few months, should have a lot more great pics to share…. Well, see you later.

Birthday update

Today is my 28th birthday (yikes), and since I haven’t done a post in awhile I thought this would be a good time.  As of today, I only have 2 more weeks left in Korea!!!  I’m pumped about the next few months, Korea has been a great 16 months, but at this point I am definitely ready to leave.

Although I am leaving Korea on Dec 23, I am not going back to Canada for Christmas.  Instead, Sam and I are going on a “little” trip around South East Asia for at least three and a half weeks, maybe longer depending.  Sam has been very, very, busy working out our trip plan so I thought I would let everyone in on what we have planned so far.

Dec 23-Jan 17 Thailand.  Starting in Phuket and a working our way up to Chiang Mai with stops everywhere we can.

Jan 17-Jan 20 Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur to see Swedish House Mafia play on their last tour.

Jan 20-Jan 27 Laos.

Jan 28-Feb 20 Vietnam.  Starting in the north and working South trying to do as much as possible.

Feb 21-Feb 28 Cambodia.

Mar 1-Mar 4 Singapore.

Mar 5-Mar 26 Indonesian.  With Stops in Borneo, Jakarta, Bali, Lambok and a few other places along the way

Mar 26-Mar 30 Philippines.  Boracay.

Mar 31 China

This is where our trip might end with a stop in Korea to pick up all our stuff before heading back to Canada.  But there is also a chance that we may not need to return to Canada in April, and in which case we may just continue to Australia and New Zealand.  But that is a big maybe right now.

Well…See you later.