Kho Samed - The End of the Journey

Koh Samet
Originally uploaded by Hol Riz

One more bus and a boat saw us in beautiful Koh Samet, white sandy beaches and dry hot weather. We spent a lovely few days chatting to some Chinese Canadians, watching fire shows, topping up the tan and swimming in the sea. The only complaint were the plagues of mosquitoes the size of dragon flies but a big spray of DEET saw them off and we were able to enjoy our last few days on this paradise island.

Finally we took the very last bus of our journey back to Bangkok for just one night, we walked back along Koh San road picking up a few souvenirs and Becky got her nails done hoping to make a glamorous return despite her scruffy clothes.

The next day feeling elated, sad, excited and tired, and with totally empty pockets we boarded our plane home.

15 Months after leaving the UK we had visited 13 countries, taken 28 Flights and had more awesome experiences than anyone deserves, visited more inspiring places than we could ever have imagined and met some of the most amazing and beautiful people in the world. Definitely one of the best years of our lives.

We hope you have enjoyed our blog of our last 15 months and we are looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Koh Chang

koh Chang
Originally uploaded by Hol Riz

After a horrendous journey from Cambodia that was supposed to only take one day but ended up being two days and finally arriving in torrential rain we were pleased to find Koh Chang has beautiful palm fringed beaches and a lot of tailors! Luckily the rain stopped and Holland set about getting a couple of hand-made suits while Becky set about getting a tan.

Throughout our time here we hired a motorbike and drove along the coastal beaches stopping and swimming whenever we got too hot - hooray island life again! However after 4 days of relaxing we decided to make use of our final few week of traveling and head to another island. Kho Samed.

Cambodia

Angkor Wat
Originally uploaded by Hol Riz

We were a bit worried about Cambodia before we arrived as other travelers had warned us that the poverty and begging were really bad. Upon arrival we got off the bus and we were nearly torn limb from limb by Tuk Tuk drivers wanting our business, but apart from that it wasn't as bad as people had made out. Cambodia is a poor country but it is also a country rich in culture and history, some of which is extremely sad. We felt it was important to know about the history so our first stop in the capital, Pnhom Phen, was the prison S21 which is now a genocide museum dedicated to the more than 800,000 Cambodians who died during the Kmer Rouge reign. From here we also visited the killing fields where many of the prisoners were brutally murdered and buried in mass graves. They have a three-story memorial tower made of the skulls of the dead. It was a sobering experience and we couldn't begin to imagine how horrifying it must have been to be alive in Cambodia during that time. The whole experience made us realize how new peace time is here, anyone older than 30 remembers the times of brutal oppression and murder, which only ended in 1981.

Our next stop was Siam Reap home of the amazing Angor Wat temples, shopping markets and funky nightlife. We spent 2 days exploring the temples which were incredible - the architecture was beyond belief and its hard for even the non devout not to be moved and inspired. We spent two days being driven round the temples on a seat for two pulled by a motorbike. The Temples are spread over several sites and were built over several decades, they include the famous overgrown temple featured in the Tomb Raider film and the massive Angkor Wat secluded by a massive moat - Amazing! There were loads of temples we didn't get round to seeing but we spent our last day in Siam Reap exploring the markets where we managed to buy a lovely painting and as we are nearing the end of our trip we bought a few souvenirs which before now we had refrained from doing as we didn't want to carry them.

Eventually we took a bus piled high with luggage and people for 13 hours back to Thailand intending to get a last few weeks of island sun as our homeward journey looms ever nearer.