Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia

The first major difference we notice is how green and vibrant the landscape is and the second thing is how relaxed everyone seems to be.  With tourism still being relatively new to Cambodia, they certainly went out of their way to look after us as much as possible.

Phnom Penh was our first port of call where we had a couple of days to enjoy the temples and palaces while some choose to visit the Killing Fields and then it was onto the famous Angkor Wat. The temples are monumental constructions with Angkor Wat being the largest religious building in the world.

It was then a big bus ride and border crossing into Thailand and our first stop was the city of Bangkok.  This was our base for the next few days where we took in the sights and then partied and shopped until we dropped!  Heading onto the ‘Bridge on the river Kwai’ we spent a day here before we headed off to the island of Ko Samui and had 5 glorious days to chill out and do everything (diving, jet skiing, snorkeling, trekking, shopping, touring etc.) or nothing (lazing on the beach and relaxing)!  The people were wonderful, the beaches perfect, the food was divine and the weather was awesome!  It was a wonderful break from the constant travelling and a much needed rest! 

The trip seems to be almost flying by now, entering Malaysia we spent a couple of days in the very impressive capitol city Kuala Lumpur where sending all our shopping home was the main priority – we had so much gear we actually bought the post office out of boxes! Travelling on through Malaysia via Melaka we enter the very small and very expensive (for us – it’s a bit of a shock after what we have been use too) very clean and very modern island of Singapore!  Celebrating a birthday at Raffles, we all dressed up in our (newly purchased) finery and partied the night away until the wee small hours!  After exploring Singapore we waved goodbye to our driver and it was off to Indonesia where we were back in the searing heat and not so wealthy port city of Jakarta on the island of Java.  Heading by train to Yogyakarta, we explored the monument of Borobudur in the morning and spent the afternoon in the swimming pool and even more shopping!

Taking the overnight bus to Bali it was a delight to wake up on a tropical island with the most beautiful scenery and views!  Basing ourselves in Kuta we had another 4 day break for everyone to explore and do their own thing for the duration and to prepare owe selves for the next and final stretch of the expedition – the Aussie outback!  Back to cooking and camping it is!

Arriving in Darwin at 3.30am we meet Adam, our new driver and we’re on our way…

Only 2 weeks to go – unbelievable!