Similan Day 2

A few snaps from our last morning on the Similan Islands. We were scheduled to hitch a ride back to the mainland with the same tour boat that had dropped us off the previous day. After checking out in the morning, we had a few hours to kill before the boat arrived and decided on one last dip in the sea. On our way to the beach, we stumbled past a small unassuming sign for a lookout point. Of course we followed the path into the trees, where it soon became evident that the ever-steepening pathway was indeed more of a climb/hike than a gentle meander. Luckily for us - clad in sandals and beach ware - the hike, although steep, was fairly short, and the view was well worth it.  A few photos below, if you'd like to see.

 We don't always go hiking, but when we do, we make sure to bring our snorkels.

From Bangkok to the Similan

What a crazy 24h! We started off in Bangkok and ended up where we are right now, sleeping in a Bungalow on one of the Similan Islands in the south of Thailand. But, I'll start from the beginning...

Yesterday, our second day in Bangkok and feeling well enough to stay at a hostel [instead of hotel], we caught a tuk tuk (a motorbike-rickshaw-taxi hybrid that seems to be equally popular amongst locals and tourists, alike) and booked a room at a nice looking hostel. 

Bangkok

Bangkok! Day 2 in Bangkok and what a hectic few days its been. After arriving in Bangkok late yesterday afternoon, we checked into our hotel, showered our exhausted bodies, and promptly fell asleep for the next 15 or so hours. Our travels and a nasty stomach virus finally caught up with us in Hong Kong [our landing point before Thailand] and needless to say, it was a long night, marked by the ejection of projectile bodily fluids, and no sleep - welcome to the less glamorous side of traveling. Neither of us has ever been this sick while traveling, but luckily, the worst was over within the first 24h, and while we're not quite 100%, we were able to make it to Thailand in one piece.

Houses on stilts - the view from our hotel room, which made for a really cool contrast

Shenzhen & HK

I didn't have a real post written up about our travels from Guangzhou to Shenzhen and HK, but wanted to include a few photos we took along the way.

En route to Shenzhen

We stopped at an ancient village on the way to Shenzhen and stopped to take a look around

Guangzhou Part III

The rest of our days in Gunagzhou have been lazy and fruit-filled! Strolling around the community, admiring the beautiful (gigantic) houses, peeking through gates to see the size of the Koi fish in neighbours' ponds, kicking the soccer ball around, counting the many different fruit trees (so far: mango, starfruit, papaya, Mandarin), knocking down mangoes in our own backyard, and of course gorging ourselves on tropical fruit (perfection).