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I’ve barely begun to explore South East Asia, but after spending three nights in Siem Reap, I have to say it’s definitely a stop you’ll want to make. Since the borders of Cambodia have opened up to tourists just about ten years ago the small rural village of Siem Reap has turned into a tourist haven full of lofty little buildings, markets and fine dining. Much more modern and safer looking than the rest of Cambodia, it has more of a resort feeling to it with backpackers coming in from the world over.

Prices are cheap and your dollars go far here. I questioned whether it may have been better to stay in Siem Reap for a short while before I ventured off to Bangkok. The locals are super friendly and everything is walking distance or a very cheap one dollar tuk tuk ride. (more...)

Cambodia is more of what I expected landing in some random South East Asian country. It has that feel of authenticity not fully overrun by tourists yet. Phnom Penh has it’s small pockets of touristy areas which look reasonably well kept up and some main areas which are showing signs of modern growth. But veer off to any side streets and you will see side markets which you would question the hygiene of, streets full of dirt and grime, and street stalls selling fried crickets and cockroaches by the pound. There are naked children running around the street, people swimming in the canals, which even as hot as it was I probably wouldn’t jump into. It didn’t seem like too many people were working with only a small amount of construction going on. most people are running their little stalls and you wonder if they really sell anything at all. (more...)

Well, Rob’s Excellent Adventure has turned into Rob’s Excellent Detour. So after two weeks of backpacking it through the disgusting heat of Thailand making stops in Pattaya, Bangkok and Koh Tao I’ve decided to make a little u-turn and head back to Bangkok to setup a home base. I’m planning to stay in Thailand for up to eight months anyway so I thought it would be easier to just travel out of Bangkok. Turns out I prefer my travelling in smaller doses although I will probably still take some longer two to three week trips to cover some ground as I’m taking my little trips around South East Asia. (more...)

With it’s cozy little bungalows, beach side bars, and flood of backpackers from around the world Koh Tao is a little island paradise in the Gulf of Thailand you won’t want to miss out on. It’s the smaller of three islands next to Koh Phangan and koh Samui which are much more heavily populated. Koh Tao is known for it’s beautiful beaches and it’s proximity to many of the areas dive sites for scuba diving and hence the islands main attraction which is littered with dive schools. (more...)

Bangkok is a big city and after spending my first four days here I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface. Not only does the city itself have a lot to offer, there are many locations just a couple hours bus ride out of the city that are worth seeing as well. The list goes on and on.

Other than some notable tourist attractions like the Grand Palace, Bangkok is all about malls and night life. The malls are HUGE, some of the largest in the world, many of which contain eight floors or more. The night life is all about clubs and markets as well as the river side attractions and boat tours. Other than that you have Muay Thai fighting as well if you’re into seeing two guys kick the crap out of each other. (more...)

So what can you say about Pattaya. Between minnow fish foot massages, a Russian prostitute wanting to do cocaine with me, possibly hitting on a ladyboy (whatever the hell s/he was, s/he was hot, but I wasn’t about to take my chances) and a giant city wide water fight, it’s one hell of a town.

Songkran in Pattaya was definitely a blast and I highly recommend it as unless you are there for the bar girl scene you probably won’t find much else to do in Pattaya. But you can’t go wrong with a city wide water fight with thousands of people. Literally all street corners lined up with people with giant super soaker guns and buckets of water. Smearing clay on your face as party of the Thai new years tradition, absolutely nothing like it. I wish I had more pictures, but that was a suicide mission for any camera or phone as you couldn’t walk more then 5 feet from your hotel without getting a bucket of water poured on your head. (more...)

So everyone has been asking me about where exactly it is I’m going for my trip to Thailand. Turns out I’m actually going to take a quick tour around South East Asia before I settle down in Thailand for a few months of Muay Thai training. And after a lot of random top 5 places to visit in “x” searches I put together this make shift plan below which I have already changed about 10 times so I’ll update it as I go along. (more...)