Australia

Exploring Rottnest Island

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Rottnest Island lies 11 miles west off the coast of Fremantle, in Western Australia. The island is home to the quokka, a unique marsupial that lives only on Rottnest Island, and is found nowhere else on earth. The island is mostly pedestrianised and without motorised vehicles, making for very laid-back cycling and walking tours. One […]

Asia

Arriving in Hanoi: traffic and temples

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After three weeks travelling through Thailand, we flew from Bangkok to Hanoi. I’m quite behind on the blog as we’ve been so busy exploring. We used Hanoi as a base for getting around the north of the country, as the capital has good connections to the surrounding rural regions. We’ve been back to the city […]

Asia

Ang Thong National Marine Park

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One of the sights I’ve been most looking forward to seeing in Thailand is Ang Thong National Marine Park. The National Park incorporates a vast number of small islands in the Gulf of Thailand. These forested, rocky islands are surrounded by a smooth azure ocean, and have outstanding white sand beaches. The islands of Ang […]

Asia

Temple in Taling Ngam

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I’m currently staying on the island of Ko Samui. We’re on the quiet side of the island, in a small fishing village called Taling Ngam. The village has a beautiful temple called Wat Kiri Wongkaram. It’s a Buddhist temple, and is incredibly brightly coloured and well-maintained. It’s kept in immaculate condition, with even the sandy […]

Asia

Surat Thani

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I caught the bus from northern Phuket to Surat Thani, a town near the Gulf coast. I stayed a night there to break up the journey from Phuket to Ko Samui. Most visitors don’t stay in the city and just go straight through, but I’m glad I got to spend a bit of time in […]

Asia

Nai Yang, Phuket

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It’s Day One of my five month trip backpacking through South East Asia and Australia. We flew into Phuket very early in the morning (4.30am) and I’m now at Nai Yang beach. It’s the rainy season here on the Andaman coast at the moment so our visit to Phuket will be brief this time, but […]

Asia

Exploring temples in Jaipur’s Old City

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The Old City in Jaipur is a great place to explore. Not only are there major sights here such as the City Palace, Jantar Mantar, and Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds), but there are lots of small temples, which you can wander into. These can be more fun than the major sights as there […]

Andalucia

Sand sculpture in Cádiz

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At the far end of Cádiz at Playa de la Caleta, the city peters out into a long pier and the Atlantic Ocean. Wandering here at sunset, I came across a steel drum band playing, and an artist carefully tending his sand sculpture. The sculpture has an amazing amount of detail, and depicts an octopus, […]

United Kingdom

Snowdonian Lakes

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The walk between these two Snowdonian lakes, Llyn Ogwen and Llyn Idwal, was sublime on a blustery summer day. We trekked up towards the mountains in search of the Devil’s Kitchen, a tall jagged rock formation around a dark, boulder-strewn alley. The sunlight reflecting off the surface of the lake gives Llyn Idwal (on the right) […]

Croatia

Plitvice Lakes: the Upper Lakes

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In early October I visited Croatia. I’ve wanted to go to Croatia for several years, so was excited to land in Zadar, a coastal city with classical ruins and buildings made of white stone. After exploring Zadar we travelled inland by bus, across beautiful misty mountains and moor. The climate and scenery changed, as we […]

Kenya

Wasini Island

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I took a trip to Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park, a protected wildlife area that covers part of the sea on the far south of Kenya’s coast, close to the border with Tanzania. It is one of the most beautiful places I have been to, and was so good that I went twice, making the trips […]