Dan's Adventure

Let me start by saying Railay is a shit hole. Never have I been more disappointed by a place. There are two main areas. One filled with expensive resorts and the other with budget accommodation and restaurants. The latter side smells like a sewer and when the tide is out the beach is exposed as a rubbish tip. It is disgusting. Although the other side does have a stunning beach with cliffs enclosing the bay, it is always mobbed. I don’t like spending time lying on the beach at the …

While backpacking in Thailand I went to Krabi. Krabi is simply a jump off point to the islands and beaches that are nearby namely Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi and Railay. Railay is popular with climbers while Koh Lanta and Koh Phi Phi are famed for their beautiful beaches. The film The Beach made Koh Phi Phi popular, but it is what lies under the water that drew me to it. I wanted to dive.
Whilst in Railay I investigated options for diving at nearby Koh Phi Phi but there wasn’t …

After the lack of trekking on the Chiang Mai trek I was determined to get a good amount of walking done at Khao Sok National Park. The park has two well marked trails which lead to a series of waterfalls. The first is around 7km long whilst the second is closer to 14km. If you only plan to walk these trails, there is absolutely no need to hire a guide. Guides are however available to take you off the beaten path and deeper into the jungle.
To enter Khao Sok a …

I have fallen way behind on getting my photos online. I have only just finished uploading my China photos. Amongst them you will find photos from Tiger Leaping Gorge, the Great Wall of China, Terracotta warriors and the Chengdu Panda research and breeding centre.

I found this advert in the Mae Head area of Koh Tao. I wonder if anyone has ever actually bought these?

credit: Alain76

After completing the PADI open water course I was hooked, I wanted to keep on diving. I started to look into options for diving in both the Great Barrier Reed and the Galapagos and unsurprisingly I found that the cost of diving in both locations was astronomical in comparison to Koh Tao. My cousin currently works as a dive master out in the Galapagos so I turned to her for some advice. Her recommendation was to take advantage of the cheap diving on Koh Tao so I decided to …

Before I left the UK I knew that I wanted to learn to scuba dive at some point during my trip but I didn’t know where or when. Both the Great Barrier Reef and the Galapagos Islands were on the cards for diving, but learning in either place would cost a fortune and I wouldn’t see as much as I would if I could already dive.
In most places in order to dive you need to either have completed a recognised introductory course, or you can sign up for a discovery …

At each of the entrances to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha complex stands a pair of giant guards. Brightly coloured and almost as tall as the walls behind them, they really stand out and were infact the most impressive thing that I saw in Bangkok.