While sailing around Halong Bay we stopped off at a huge cave system in the limestone peaks. It is called the ‘Cave of Awe’ due to the expressions on visitors faces when they first enter the cave. It went on for miles and miles and was like a magical grotto from kid’s films. It was illuminated with …
Monica
I’ve been studying journalism for 3 months now but I’m starting to wonder if the course will ever help me to be a travel writer? Journalism is a strange topic to study. It feels a bit like reading a text book to become a chef. Is it really something that can be taught in a …
Sunset Sunday is in dedication to all the beautiful sunsets around the world. Sometimes we’re so busy that we don’t get the chance to really appreciate how gorgeous the sunset is so I’d like everyone to start noticing! Stop what you’re doing for a few moments and look at all the amazing colours of the …
Almost everyone who visits Bangkok ends up going to Tiger Temple and most people aren’t entirely sure how they feel about it.
Sunset Sunday is in dedication to all the beautiful sunsets around the world. Sometimes we’re so busy that we don’t get the chance to really appreciate how gorgeous the sunset is so I’d like everyone to start noticing! Stop what you’re doing for a few moments and look at all the amazing colours of the …
Guy Fawkes Night, or Bonfire Night as we now call it, is one of those really weird British traditions that makes no sense to any other nation than our own. So, what is Bonfire Night? In a nutshell, Bonfire Night occurs on the 5th of November and every community wrecks a patch of their park …
The Thai government announced last week that it will be cracking down on drug use and targeting backpacker areas such as Koh Phangan and Koh Samui. Drugs such as ecstasy and cannabis can be found in abundance at the infamous Full Moon Parties but the Thai police have warned there will be harsh punishments for anyone caught with drugs. We spoke to …
Ocean Park or Disneyland. Ocean Park or Disneyland? This was a tough choice while we were in Hong Kong but finally opted for Ocean Park to see the pandas. We arrived early and rushed in quickly to be the first in the panda enclosure. This was a very good move because within 15 minutes it was …
Sunset Sunday is in dedication to all the beautiful sunsets around the world. Sometimes we’re so busy that we don’t get the chance to really appreciate how gorgeous the sunset is so I’d like everyone to start noticing! Stop what you’re doing for a few moments and look at all the amazing colours of the …
These photos are from the USAT Liberty Shipwreck in Bali. You can read more about the dive and see even more amazing photos here: Diving: USAT Liberty Shipwreck, Tulamben, Bali.
This week’s #Friday Photos come from the most amazing and relaxing place I’ve ever come across. We stumbled across these traditional A-frame bungalows in Koh Lanta and couldn’t resist staying for a night. This night inevitably turned into a week purely because the bungalows were so quaint and the beach was so amazingly beautiful. Working away on my laptop. …
How old are you when you stop seeing September as the beginning of the school year? I still buy academic school year diaries because I can’t quite get out of this habit. Forget January, nothing new happens in January. January just gets colder, darker and more depressing. But September is full of new beginnings, fresh …
The article originally appeared in The Hufftington Post. You can read the original article here. Many people take a gap year to ‘discover themselves’ and find out what they really want to do with their lives. Most people take a gap year to have some fun in the sun with a year of beach parties …
As many of you are now aware, on Saturday I moved to London! All the way from the quiet solitude of Wales to The Big Smoke. So why did I move and why so suddenly? After returning from travelling 6 months ago I moved back into my family home in North Wales. Life was comfortable, …
Before anyone gets all excited and starts skimming this post for baby news, I’m not pregnant! That isn’t my big news! Any observant readers out there will realise that I’ve been pretty lazy about blogging recently. If any of you were wondering what’s going on then I can assure you that I’ve been anything but …
I started using Blogger a couple of years ago when it was recommended to me by the online editor of my local paper. I happily set up the account without considering any other options and I created Total Travel Bug. This was a blog that followed my travels around the world and was featured on my …
Whilst in Borneo, we had the chance to visit the biggest flower in the world. We’d seen a few signs on the side of the road offering viewings of the ‘World’s Biggest Flower’ which you could see for the equivalent of about a fiver. I was reluctant for a while because I didn’t want to …
The Mulu Caves are one of the largest limestone cave systems in Borneo. The massive caves are home to bats, swallows and swifts and it is a popular tourist attraction to visit between dusk and dawn when the noctural bats swap places with the birds who are returning home for the night. There is a …
Whilst in Borneo, we spent a night on Seligan Island, the largest of three islands which make up The Turtle Islands which are on the border between Borneo and the Philippines. Seligan Island is absolutely beautiful, a perfect island paradise with white sand, clear sea, bright flowers and palm trees. Unfortunately it rained from pretty …
When I returned home after 19 months of travel, I was told by many people that I’d find it hard to ‘settle’. Everyone told me I’d have itchy feet within a couple of weeks and I’d be bored with the routine of normality. In all honesty, I was expecting to feel like this too, but …
I was looking through my photos and realised that I have so many amazingly beautiful photos of birds from Borneo that I decided they needed a whole post to themselves. I’ve never considered myself to be much of a bird watcher or even a bird lover but I think I’ve been converted after I spent …
If you missed out on Day 1 of my epic climb, you can catch up here: Climbing Mt Kinabalu Day 1. We got up at 2am, a horrifically unnatural time to be woken up and to eat a plate of fried noodles. Fortunately, I’m a big fan of noodles, no matter what time it is, …
At 4am on a misty and dark morning, we discovered that watching the sun rise over Angkor Wat was an extremely popular thing for tourists to do and hundreds of people were flocking to a place where they’d get a good view. I was disappointed at first; this was meant to be a really special …
The impressive sight of Mt Kinabalu from the bottom Mount Kinabalu is in the highest mountain in Borneo and the 20th highest mountain in the world. It stands tall and proud at 4,095 meters high (13,459ft) and is an 8.7 kilometre trek in total. Most people prefer to spread the walk over two days and …
My favourite thing about KK was the night market. There was a section that sold everything under the sun, including mountains of fruit and veg, and a food section that came to life as the sun set. It specialised in seafood and there were piles of fresh fish waiting to be picked from the pile …
We ended up staying in Singapore for 10 days. This is much longer than we ever intended to stay and many people say, ’10 days! What did you do for 10 whole days in Singapore?’ Well heres what….. 10 Days led us to discover the Top 10 things to do…. 1. Shopping I …
Singapore is often compared to one giant shopping mall and although there are hundreds of other things to do in Singapore, shopping is the number one attraction. No matter how long you are in Singapore, you will never manage to visit every single shop. You can wander underground from shopping mall to shopping mall without …
For every traveller out there, there comes a point when it’s time to go home. For me, that time has come. Looking all fresh and squeaky clean! This is me 18 months ago, ready to leave home. After 18 months of travelling, on March 26th 2011, I am going home. In case you didn’t know, …
We had such a good day and were like little kids running around all day. It was exhausting but great. It was like entering a different world where fun is the primary objective of your whole life. We rode rides over and over again until we felt so sick we had to sit down. We …
I have loved our time in Singapore, a city of such lovely contrasts. A city where East meets West and mingles together with perfect ease. The contrasts begin as soon as you get on the train; first stop Tenah Merah and then you come to names that I’m more than familiar with like Town Hall, …
Lovina, northern Bali, is a fabulous place to relax and chill out. What better place to do this than at Air Panas Bajar Hot Springs? Air Panas Bajar is just 10km from the center of Lovina so all you need is a map and a scooter. Luckily, we arrived early and beat all the crowds that started …
Spiritual Sights around Ubud After a week of early morning yoga, afternoon cakes and carafes of wine in the evening, we thought it was time to break our well established Ubud routine and get out and about to explore the sights. We hired a scooter for the day and weaved our way through the polluted …
We went to bed like excitable children on Christmas Eve, strangely enjoying the anxious energy that flowed through the hotel. But it wasn’t Father Christmas who was visiting that night. There had been rumours, whisperings, murmurs about the special someone that was coming. It was someone powerful. Someone we should fear. Hushed conversations and strange …
I’m currently sat in a fluffy white robe, stretched across a plush sofa, 25 stories high, with a magnificent view over Kuala Lumpur. I’m opposite a queen size bed that is wider than it is long and Sam is sat about 10 meters away from me at a huge desk while he uses the Internet and …
While travelling, you don’t always get much choice about where you stay. Hence this place…. We arrived in Moni, Flores at 8pm. It was dark, we were tired and could find no other accomodation within walking distance. We were being hassled by about 15 guys on scooters who wanted to take us to their ‘friend’s, uncle’s, …
The official name for the Monkey Forest is ‘The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary’. These monkeys have been living here for hundreds and hundreds of years and the three Holy Monkey Temples were built during the mid 14th century. There are the three grand old temples, two graveyards and intricate monkey statues everywhere; these all look …
Luban Bajo in Flores, Indonesia, is quickly becoming a popular tourist destination for backpackers looking to get away from the usual routes and see something a little different. It is also the launching point for most people to visit Komodo Island which is why we’d travelled out to this point in Indonesia. But Komodo Island …
, We took a slow boat from Gili Trewangen to Senggigi which took 4 hours to cover a distance that I’m pretty sure I could have swum. We first went to Bagsal on a worryingly overcrowded boat and then waited there for a very confused hour until we finally got …
The Gili Islands are off the northwest coast of Lombok and easily accessible from either Bali or Lombok. There are three islands; Gili Trewangan which is the biggest and known as the ‘party island’ as it is where most of the backpackers head to, Gili Meno is in the middle and is what people seem …
We flew into Denpassar, Bali’s international airport on a late flight from Sydney. Because it was a late flight we didn’t bother with public transport and jumped straight in a taxi to Sanur. Denpassar airport is really well set up for taxis. There is an office with a fixed price to certain destinations and you …