Today we had an early start ready to catch our boat from the port in Cairns and head out to sea for the day. In Cairns we stayed at a hostel called Mad Monkeys which had a very relaxed and chilled out vibe but easily accessible to all the clubs and party places. Approximately a 5 minute walk to Gilligans which is another hostel that has a club attached to it, so if you’re looking for a party atmosphere then head there. We walked from Mad Monkeys hostel to the boat port for 7am which roughly took us 10-15mins.

Once we got to the port we checked into the Dreamtime boat and made our way over to the boat ready for departure. When arriving at the boat there was a photographer at the ready to take our photos before getting onto the boat, lovely touch for a company to do. Then we got onto the boat and were given our snorkel, mask and flippers for the day. We settled down inside the boat and we were all given an introduction to the crew and a short safety brief. The crew were so energetic and friendly, making everyone feel welcome straight away. Then were all given our snorkel brief whilst we started to head to our first location, straight after all those on board for diving were given their dive brief. We were all set to go!

We had roughly an hour and a half before arriving at our first location so we headed up to the top deck to try and catch some sun. Approaching our first location we were told we could go out for the glass boat trip which we decided to do. The glass boat was incredible! We saw so many different fish, coral, dolphins, turtles and even a shark sleeping at the bottom of the sea. If you ever get the chance then I would highly recommend it, or even if you’re ever in Cairns then take the Dreamtime boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef as the glass bottom boat is included in the trip.

Straight after the glass bottom boat trip we had our intro dive! The instructors got us all kitted up and ready for the water. We headed in and first of we held onto the side of the boat in order to learn a couple of things before heading down below the surface. The first thing was how to clear our goggles from water whilst underwater. Then we learnt how to clear our mouth piece of water in case it falls out of our mouths and finally we practised the “ok” symbol to one another underwater. The instructor then started to lower us further down slowly, in order for our ears to adjust. It was such a fantastic experience being able to get up close to the reef and see so much sea-life and swim amongst it. whilst diving we had our photos taken by the photographer which is so great to have as a little souvenir to take which us on a memory stick. I would definitely want to try diving again and it reminded me of how much I loved going diving when I was younger.

Once our dive had finished we headed back onto the boat and some of the crew had layer out some cakes and muffins to snack on as we waited for lunch. We started to sail away to our next location and lunch was served and we had a buffet style lunch with salad, chicken, lasagna and curry. After lunch we arrived at our second location and this was where we went snorkelling and once again were able to see some amazing sea–life and swim amongst them all.

Snorkelling finished and we begun our journey back to Cairns! On the way back sone of the crew did talks about different cultures within the indigenous tribes, which was extremely fascinating to learn about and understand. They made it a fantastic cultural experience! Fun fact women aren’t supposed to play didgeridoos because it is said to make them infertile if they do.

Dreamtime were amazing from the activities that we did to the crew and even the food. All in all a brilliant day at sea!

Just a quick post about our time in Bali and Gili T island. We had the most amazing experience and time! We arrived in Bali and went straight to our hostel in Seminyak called Socialista. We then went for a little explore and found our local beach and it was so nice and quiet, lovely to not have a really tourist beach that’s packed so close by.

Then we headed back to our hostel grabbed and pack of cards and chilled by the pool, humidity was definitely getting to us that first day. The hostel had such a great vibe and atmosphere and we are so happy that we decided to stay there, within the first day we instantly made some great friends. We even ended up going out with them all in the evening to a club called Shi Shi, free drinks from 9am-11pm so would highly recommend that one! we had several fun night there but it’s definitely a party atmosphere in that area and there is plenty of places to go out drinking whether it be a bar, club, restaurant or beach club! To name a few Shi Shi, La Favela, Finns, Watercress Cafe and Penny Lane!

A few days in we took a trip over to Gili T island and if you ever get the chance to go to Bali then I would highly recommend taking a trip to one of the nearby Indonesian islands. Gili T is nicknamed the party island and there are many beach clubs all around the island. We stayed not far from the port area but just enough back that it was relaxing and local. We tried some local curry and it was incredible! The second day we hired bikes and took a ride along the beachfront and stumbled across a nice, fairly quiet beach club to enjoy for the day into the evening. And obviously take some photos on the classic swings!

Heading back to Bali we had a rather rough boat ride and for one who has seasickness it was not ideal. Although Em was loving every second of it, what opposites!

When getting back to Bali we stayed at the same hostel in Seminyak as we had such an amazing time and made some brilliant friends! We continued having chilled days going to the beach and beach clubs and heading out at the evening with friends which was so nice to do. Our hostel put on some fab events too, such as pool parties, drinking games (beer pong), movie days and open mic night so definitely a place for young travellers to stay if you are up for a good time.

Yesterday we arrived in Singapore from Bangkok, I am absolutely loving my experience so far. There are so many scenic places to visit and loads of interesting things to see and do. Also it’s amazingly clean everywhere you go. Our accommodation is brilliant too, we are staying at a Spacepod place in Kallang and it’s such easy access to everywhere by the Metro.

A great way to get away from the city life is to visit the Gardens by the Bay! It’s a really beautiful place surrounded by city and the marina. Kind of breathtaking, would highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking of visiting Singapore. Within the Gardens by the Bay there is something like 29 different attraction spots to see the main ones being Floral Fantasy, Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, OCBC Skyway and the Observatory Tower. We ended up doing all of the main attractions apart from the Observatory Tower and roughly 20 odd of the other attractions.

The first attraction which we visited was the Floral Fantasy and it really was a wonderful floral experience. When you enter the room there is a nearly overpowering smell of flowers but it’s so lovely! We saw a flower display which was sculpted to be like jellyfish and move up and down in sinc. At the end of that room there was a 4D experience called flight of the Dragonfly, which took you around the attractions as if you were a dragonfly flying about the place.

The next attraction which we visited was the Flower Dome, within this amazing spacious done it was full of flowers from around the world and from various different climates. Again it was amazing to see smell and enjoy! Another great thing to keep in mind if you are visiting Singapore is that all the domes and rooms had air-con so great for hot and humid days, which today certainly was.

The third place we visited was the Cloud Forest, this dome was full of various plants and flowers again. Plus it had a huge waterfall, spanning from the very top of the dome all the way down. When you first go into the dome you are able to take a lift all the way to the top floor to see the waterfall from the other side and walk out onto a viewing platform. Then you can take the winding path down seeing all the scenic plants and flowers as you go. The main reason it is called the cloud dome is due to there being a mist which almost makes a cloud effect within the dome.

The final main attraction which we did was the OCBC Skyway, this is a bridge like structure built between the Supertree Grove. We can get some amazing from above the gardens, and you can also see the Singapore Eye and some of the city. After this we walked around the different areas within the Gardens of the Bay and caught some sun, even with my pale skin.

Then we left the gardens and got the Metro to near Raffles Hotel, we walked along to the hotel and went to Long Bar to grab a Singapore Sling. This was a fantastic bar with a brilliant atmosphere. It had very 1920s vibes about it. A slightly unusual thing that they do here is have a bag of peanuts on your table which you can eat then throw the peanut shells onto the floor. I guess it adds character!

Definitely an experience that I would recommend if you get the chance to visit Singapore!

Wow what a day today was!

We started our day having some breakfast in the Travelier hostel then headed to Hua Lamphong station (Bangkok) to catch our night train. To get to the station we took a Grab. Grab is basically the equivalent of Uber in Asia, I would highly recommend it for anyone who is thinking of visiting. Makes travel a lot easier and you know that you’re not going to get scammed and overcharged.

The night before our journey we made sure that we bought some snacks for the train journey e.g. crisps and some seaweed to try! Then before leaving Hua Lamphong station we went to a cafe and had a big lunch to set us up nicely. Our train departed from the station at 1:45pm for a lovely 15 hour journey to Chiang Mai. The journey started rather nicely, we departed on time, had our own seating area and our seats turned into bunk beds!

However it was a very long 15 hours with very little sleep. We arrived in Chiang Mai at roughly 4am and had several hours to kill before our day at the Jungle Elaphant Sanctuary.

The four hour wait felt endless but we just kept telling ourselves this day will be worth the lack of sleep and waiting round. For the first 2 1/2 hours we played cards at the station, bought a cold drink and snack. Then we booked a Grab to the Jungle Elephant Sanctuary office ready for our day, then we had another small wait before our journey up into the jungle! Whilst waiting at the office we met a lovely Canadian couple who we later sat with for lunch. It was now our turn to meet our driver and guide ready for the day and head towards the jungle. We had a nice open back, Jeep looking car to take us through the winding roads into the jungle. Having travel sickness is not fun for journey like that but I was too excited to worry about that.

Upon arriving at the Jungle Elephant Sanctuary we were given complementary water then we headed to our base camp for the day, which was camp 7. Our first port of call was to put on our traditional Karen clothing then begin by feeding the elephants. We were told when feeding the elephants if you shout bonbon they know it’s feeding time.

After feeding the elephants it was feeding time for us too! By this time I was so ready for food which was great because there was loads to choose from. We had a buffet type lunch of rice, potato and chicken curry (red curry), chicken on the bone, roasted vegetables with tofu and some additional tofu on the side, then some watermelon for after.

Once lunch was over we had about 20-30 mins relaxing in the heat and drinking some water before we made the elephants medicine balls. The main ingredients of the medicine balls was rice, dried rice, bananas and sticky fruit plant. To be honest they smelt rather nice! We then headed back down to feed the elephants the medicine balls again starting by shouting bonbon!

Next it was time to scrub, bathe and clean the elephants and ourselves too. This process starts by covering the elephants in mud and then using brushes and our hands to rub it in. Then we proceeded to walk along with the elephants down to the river and waterfall, which was stunning. We washed the elephants off using bucket type things and slashed water over them.

After we headed back towards camp said goodbye to the elephants an had showers before heading back to the Jungle Elephant Sanctuary office to collect our big luggage then head for some dinner before our bus journey back to Bangkok.

Our guide and driver was amazing and as we were discussing places to go and eat we asked for his suggestion. He said to head for the shopping mall across from the bus station as it would be nice and convenient. Then he offered to drive us there with our bags then meet us after an hour or so to take us over to the bus station. We left Chiang Mai at roughly 8pm for a 10 hour drive back Bangkok. By 8:30pm we were both fast asleep and didn’t really wake up until we arrived back in Bangkok. Definitely needed sleep after the previous night.

Only having like 3 hours sleep was not ideal but the whole day was 100% worth it!

The day of our flight has finally arrived! It has been a long wait but we fly this evening at 9:30pm from London Heathrow. We spent most of the day finalising our packing and getting last minute bits. Losing your earphones before a flight is not ideal so a last minute shopping trip was in order.

To make sure that we had plenty of time and didn’t get stuck in any traffic we left at 3pm. So we arrived at the airport with nearly 5 hours to kill. Obviously what more is there to do than have a very British dinner, fish and chips plus a pint!

After many hours in the airport and several games of cards being played we boarded our flight. We were sat at the very back of the plane with plenty of room along with being given a pillow and blanket for the journey. Would recommend flying with Thai Airways, nice experience with attentive staff.

We arrived in Bangkok the afternoon of the 6th February after nearly 11 hour flying. From the airport we went straight to our hostel (Travelier) to check-in. Then we decided to go out and explore for our first evening.

First port of call was a night market and some dinner. Patpong market was definitely an experience, not like markets back home. Very busy with lots of people shouting. Just along from the market we found a nice little restaurant for some traditional Thai food.

So far a great flight and first evening!

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Lottie and this is my blog all about travelling, I hope you enjoy.

Please follow along with all my travels as I embark on an adventure of a lifetime, exploring various places around the world for 6 months along with my friend. Here goes nothing, come along for the ride!