Bye bye Asia.. My time here is done.

Asleep at the wheel - Oz
Originally uploaded by Big_Ade.

5 months in South East Asia and I move on with mixed feelings. I’ve been to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysian Borneo and I’ve only just managed to scratch the surface of these places.

Dashing around can be a little frustrating if you let it, you can think you’re missing out on stuff if you’re not rushing from one sight to another but in actual fact when you dash you don’t actually get below the surface of any one place. I think over the 5 months I got a reasonable mix of dashing and relaxing in a place.

Here is a bit of a recap (more for myself than for the blog) of the things that have stuck out in my mind over the last few months.

Thailand:

• A month vegging on beaches
• Koh Tao for Xmas
• A 10 day Buddhist meditation retreat for New Years
• Being bought down to earth in the refugee filled border town of Mae Sot, Thailand
• Couch surfing in Chiang Mai

Laos:

• Hunting for charities
• A bike tour in the northern hills - well I was on a bike, Louis was on a moped!
• A weekend in Pakse and meeting photographer Ahmet
• Kayaking through the surreal Vang vieng
• Working for the elephant festival

Cambodia

• Easy… spending 2 weeks with Julia
• Sweating in Angkor Wat
• Photographing the land evictions with LICADHO
• Having my eyes opened in Phnom Penh

Vietnam

• River markets of the Mekong Delta
• 5 days on a motorbike in the central highlands
• Traveling around with Alex
• Photographing Hoi An
• Beer Hoi nights in Hanoi
• The views and villagers in the tourist-free northern districts

Borneo

• Spotting wild orang utans at Uncle Tan’s jungle camp
• Swimming with turtles on Sipadan island
• Partying on a helipad
• A surprise encounter with wild elephants at the research centre
• Climbing Mt Kinabalu