Well I'm playing catch up here, as I'm not really in Singapore now, but I didn't have time to update whilst I was there as it was a fleeting visit! A fairly useless, but interesting bit of info for you: The little island was named Singapore in the 14th Century when a visiting royal prince (no doubt from England) mistook what was probably a tiger for a lion (there were no lions indigenous to this part of the world!). The island was named "Singa-Pura" m...

Sawadee Ka friends, Well the last time I wrote I was on the other side of Thailand. Since then, whilst back on Koh Samui I took a day trip to the Ang Thong National Marine Park - an archipelago of 40 small islands with sheer limestone cliffs and white sandy beaches, located 30km north west of Samui. I had a great day snorkelling, sea kayaking (just for you dad) and a mountain climb to a viewpoint across all of the islands. The last night in Samui was spent hu...

I've been here on the island of Koh Phanang for 4 days. It was a short hop on the ferry from Koh Samui then a walk up the main street of Haad Rin to my pad. Phanang is a world of difference from Samui. The island is much smaller, less commercial and catering largely for backpackers, rather than families as Samui does. Apparently, the island didn't even have electricity until 1973. They only got it when someone went on a one person crusade to Bangkok to deman...

It's been a while since I've written my blog, so I thought I'd better get on with it! I'm now in Koh Samui. I travelled from Hanoi in Vietnam to Bangkok for 1 night, then on to the island of Koh Samui. This place is a world of difference from my Vietnam trip - that was a cultural experience, this is an island that caters for just about anything you want to do in an idyllic setting with golden sands and 34 degree sunshine every day. Oh, and 2 miles of restaura...

I'm writing the final chapter of my Vietnamese blog from Hanoi, the capital city. We arrived here on Friday lunchtime, after taking a 3 hour bus ride from Halong Bay. I thought that Ho Chi Minh City was busy, but this is without doubt the busiest city I've ever been to. The place is at virtual gridlock 24/7, with massive polltion from the millions of scooters and fires being randomly burned everywhere. Even a 'smoggy' can't deal with that level of pollution!...