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1: Camping on Bamboo Island, Thailand.

This little beauty is my favourite place in the world… That I’ve been. It’s a small island about 45 minutes away from Koh Phi Phi by long tail boat. The beaches are whiter than white and the only things on the island are a ranger hut and a small fishing community. The tourist boats stop coming after 3pm and for a small fee your allowed to camp (twice we camped over and twice we had the whole Island to ourselves). Watch our Travel Video – Bamboo Island Camping.

3 reasons to camp on Bamboo Island:

• It is a paradise Island with nobody else there.
• The coral reef just off shore is some of the best snorkelling I’ve ever done.
• It’s right under the nose of the tourist trail but still most people opt for camping on MaYa Bay (THE Beach from the movie “The Beach”)

2: Motorcycles on Highway 1, Laos.

Again it’s another one that most tourists in Laos will pass along but almost none will stop. For me the part of the road between Vang Vieng and Luang Probang is just breathtaking, I’ve heard it gets better the further north you go but if you rent a motorbike and ride it yourself you will see just what I’m talking about – doing this made me re-evaluate the way I travel and made me wonder what I had missed while on tourist buses thundering through the heart of a place. Watch our Travel Video – The Long Way Laos.

3 reasons to ride Highway 1:

• The scenery is epic and the road passes through some beautiful villages.
• A night in Phou Khoun will open your eyes to what real Laos village is like before the tourists arrive.
• Cresting the mountain and looking down to Luang Probang sat on the mighty Mekong is something you’ll never forget.

3: Thong Reng Beach, Koh Phangan, Thailand.

And finally, yet another place that is within spitting distance of the backpacker trail. It’s so close to Haad Rin you can almost see the lights but that’s what makes it such a quiet place. Just around the headland no more than 10 minutes by long tail boat this small cove has it all – cheap beach huts, great food and the feeling of being deserted on a paradise island. Thong Reng beach is one of the few places that as I’ve arrived I’ve thought
“I could live there forever.” Watch our Travel Video – Koh Phangan.

3 reasons to find your way to Thong Reng:

• It’s too close not to go and Koh Phangan has so much more than just the party.
• It’s home to a beautiful resort called Treehouse, with huts right on the sand.
• When you get there you will want to throw your passport into the sea and never leave.

Related posts:

1. Travel Inspiration #2
2. Backpacking Around Thailand on a Budget
3. July 2009 desktop wallpaper Download…

Episode 25: We take to the Catalonian mountains in Spain and get hiking in Bergueda in -7 conditions, overdose on mushrooms at Els Roures and then rip it up on quad bikes through the Berga hillside… Mucho Mucho Love… Come Join In… Watch in HD.

Watch more of our Travel Videos.

Related posts:

1. Hiking in the Bergueda Mountains, Spain.
2. Georgie’s La La Land: Episode 24 Barcelona
3. The new look Georgie’s La La Land Video Diary

Jungle trekking through the hills around Chiang Mai in Thailand we got the chance to get up close and personal with some Elephants, go swimming with them and trek them trough the jungle. This chap was a bit too keen and obviously thought he could do a better job with the camera. I nearly didn’t use this picture but I’ve had it as my own desktop background for a few weeks and every time I look a him it makes me smile so here you go… Mucho Mucho Love… Come Join In!

Related posts:

1. January 2010 desktop wallpaper download…
2. Blog-a-Bout January 2010
3. December desktop wallpaper download…

It’s nearly the end of January already and it’s been a great start to the new year for us, things here are going stronger than ever and it’s all down to the people who stop by and read the stories I write and watch the videos Georgie makes. It’s also got a lot to do with the strong community that surrounds travel bloggers and I feel pretty lucky to be a part of that and able to call many other travel bloggers friends.
Over the last month we have been featured and interviewed and generally supported by a great bunch of people so I’m going to round things up here on a new monthly Blog-a-bout.

A Big Thank You to:

Andrew Hayes – For his interview “Travel is Happy Time” on www.sharingtravelexperiences.com Twitter: @AndrewgHayes.
David Lee – For featuring our articles and videos on www.GoBackpacking.com Twitter: @RTWDave.
Louise Brown – For making HappytimeBlog Site of the Day over at www.travelblogsites.com

Blog Carnival:

Below are some blogs that are new to me, that have really got caught my eye and I just have to share with you:

Revolution

An adventure travel blog from a pair of Irish nutters cycling around the world. CYCLING!!! They have some stunning videos and I just can’t stop going back (Check out the Kyrgyz Video!)

The Longest Way Home

Not a new blog but new form me it’s a beautifully written travel blog from a chap that’s been on the road forever, some fantastic pictures and another blog that I just can’t stop reading.

Road Junky

A warts n all travel blog which has some great articles advice and videos, shows the real side of travel.

Dark Nomad

Another “real” travel blog, it’s refreshing to see people looking past the stunning views and lively cultures and really getting down to a place and Dark Nomad has some great pictures and interesting posts to bring the point home.

Again Thanks a million to everyone who has helped us our, visited our little blog and made doing this FUN…We really appreciate it!

Related posts:

1. February 2010 desktop wallpaper download…
2. Blog-a-Bout #1
3. January 2010 desktop wallpaper download…

This is the first in a new pictorial series I’m going to be doing. I’ve got literally thousands of travel pictures rotting away in my albums and I feel it’s time to breathe some life into them, I’ll be uploading the large size pictures.
If you haven’t guessed already the first pictorial topic is Jungle Trekking in the hills around Chiang Mai, Thailand…

Trekking at times through some very thick Jungle.

Huts in small jungle villages made the simple life look beautiful.

The jungle has it’s dangers for the flip flop wearer!

Children at a jungle village somewhere in Chiang Mai.

An old lady cleaning up after the hungry trekkers.

An Elephant and his Mahout, getting a rub down in the jungle.

The Elephant thought our camera was bananas…

After a few long days trekking we stayed in a jungle hut with views to die for.

Sore and tired, the views of the hills and jungle around Chiang Mai made up for it.

(Next Pictorial: Bac Ha Market, Northern Vietnam)

If you’ve been jungle trekking in Chiang Mai and have a picture you would like to share please add the link in the comments section and it should magically appear, I’ll link back to you also… Mucho Mucho Love…

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Related posts:

1. Jungle trekking day 1.
2. Picture of the day: Chiang Mai jungle village…
3. February 2010 desktop wallpaper download…

Spain happens to be one of those lucky countries that enjoys the best of all worlds, you’ve got the option of sunning it up on a beach or rolling in the snow. Sip coffee at a cosmopolitan cafe in Barcelona or get good and adventurous up in the mountains. Which leads me nicely to to what happened next in Catalonia… Adventure in the Bergueda mountains. It was yet another early morning for the intrepid bloggers and the previous nights epic buffet dinner was definitely not helping matters. To be honest it was beginning to rub a little, not starting dinner until 9 pm and then up at 7 am – but when the wine is flowing we aint the kind of cats to say no, the price – not much more than 6 hours sleep and a hangover every morning. But, nothing a spot of hiking in the snowy mountains wouldn’t fix…

We had stayed the night at El Montanya Resort, a plush spa resort hotel nestled in the north east region of Seva , Spain. After we’d finished up at the Barcelona cookery classes the previous day we jumped straight on the minibus and now it was time to do it all again. The bus dragged us slowly skywards and the landscape started to open up, I forget how high we actually were by the time we stepped off the bus… For two reasons: 1. The views were huge…

2. It was -10 below freezing…

I tried my best to roll a smoke before we set off hiking but the cold was chomping at my fingers and Georgie was raging about me not letting her pack her big jumper, rightly so under the circumstances. Still, the only way to warm things up was to get hiking. Our guide Albert Was a happy fellow all decked out in proper adventure gear with sticks to walk with and all sorts, this really didn’t inspire either me or Georgie with confidence because we’d just thrown on what we’d normally wear with a couple of extra T-shirts underneath. We set off and once the group had got up into the trees the wind was off us and the blood was pumping and things were warming up nicely. Hiking is something I always actually enjoy doing more than I think I would and up there on the snow covered hills of Bergueda it was all good. We were hiking for a few hours and probably because of the good company and the beautiful views of the Pyrenees Mountains the time seemed to fly by, it wasn’t a particularly demanding trek but it did have it’s rewards in the form of lunch at Els Roures, a hillside lodge that made the most of  locally grown mushrooms. We piled in the doors of the place after a short drive back down the mountains and the first thing that gets you is the huge fireplace that sits in the middle of the room… By huge I mean really huge, it has what I would call “trunk sections” not logs – actual large parts of a tree trunk!
As the warmth slowly found it’s way back into my life we were all handed a small shot glass sized cup and a spoon, it went by the name of hot chocolate but it didn’t look like it… It was literally hot chocolate, not coco… melted hot chocolate – the fire, the chocolate, I surrendered then and there to a life in the Bergueda mountains. What followed was nothing short of perfect, we were moved upstairs to a large room and the wine began to pour, the food began to arrive and what a feast it was. Every dish on the menu was traditional mountain grub and came with a side order of the locally grown mushrooms,  they even had mushroom liquor aperitifs, after working up a hiking hunker it was exactly what everyone needed and to be honest it was one of the best lunch’s that I’ve ever had!
Due to the amount of wine and mushroom liquor that was disappearing attentions turned to our afternoons adventure activity… Quad biking through the hills – were we still capable? I didn’t even care, I was warm, full and half cut.

Related posts:

1. Georgie’s La La Land: Episode 25 Bergueda Adventures
2. January 2010 desktop wallpaper download…
3. Experiencing Catalonia | Day 1 Barcelona

Backpacking around Thailand on a budget is a little harder than in the rest of South East Asia, things have moved up in the world and budgets have gone with it.  But, there are still places to save money and often you’ll get a better deal or experience for it… Bangkok is one of those places, a traveller in the know can get a room and a Thai meal for less than 300b – bang on budget!

Below is a hand picked selection of tips, advice, pictures and our posts about budget travel in Thailand – Hopefully to help you stay on budget and inspire you to travel better.

Pictures From Thailand:

Koh Phi Phi with Sarah252 pictures

Bangkok with Sarah184 pictures

Koh Phangan with Sarah222 pictures

Thailand Posts:                                          Travel Tips:

Slip Sliding down the Khao San Road…………………………………… Make money while you Travel
Bamboo Island Camping…………………………………………………. Off The beaten Track: Thailand
Getting down to Diving on Koh Tao…………………………………..Desktop Wallpaper Download
The Buckets of Haad Rin
The Best Sunset in the World

Thailand Travel Video:

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/6767747[/vimeo]

Related posts:

1. 3 Best Kept Travel Secrets
2. July 2009 desktop wallpaper Download…
3. Off the beaten track: Bamboo Island Camping Thailand – Koh Phi Phi

Making money while backpacking around the world has never been easier and there are so many different ways available depending on how involved you want to get, if your budget backpacking it can be a really useful way to keep traveling for longer and it doesn’t take a lot to get into. Trust me on this – If your traveling with a purpose then your experience will be so much more!
Here are a few suggestions:

-Blogging.

If your a budding travel writer or interested in on-line communities and want to use that to help fund your travels then Blogging is a great idea which gives you as much freedom as you want. To be able to make Blogging pay for you to go off backpacking you will have to take it seriously, but look at it this way – sitting on a beach sipping a beer writing about the culture of a beautiful place hardly seems like work!
Probably the best resource to get started with this is Nomadic Matt – a traveller who has been backpacking around the world since 2005 and pays for his travels with his Blog, he has all the info you’ll need to get started in his two ebooks – How to make a Travel Blog & Make Money with your Blog.

-Teaching English.

If English is your native language then there are plenty of good opportunities to make a bit of cash, not always heaps but enough to get by. If your TEFL accredited then the better paid placements will open up, usually they’re more for the long term (6 months) but this can be a great way to get to the heart of a place. If you like it then it could become a great way to see the world.
Getting TEFL accredited is easy, they offer a Free trial of their – Online TEFL course which can be tailored to suit anyone they also have a wealth of experience helping travellers find jobs in faraway places.

-Writing Short articles for Travel communities.

If you like the idea of writing and being paid for it but you don’t want to deal with the admin of keeping your own Blog then writing short articles for sites like Matador Or Boots n All Is a good option.

Matador is a massive on-line community of travellers doing just that, travelling – writing -getting paid -travelling some more. The MatadorU Travel Writing Course is for people who are serious about making travel writing their career and want a helping hand to get started. The community support is awesome and for bit of inspiration they offer a Free download guide of 15 Paying Travel Magazines that want YOUR travel writing.
These sites don’t always pay a fortune but if you’re in a place already then why not get paid to write about it!? Plus exploring a place with an angle other than sightseeing means you’ll most definitely enrich your experience and see things you would have normally missed.

-Using your Current Skills.

I’ve seen this make backpackers money time and time again, they leave home with a skill set that they never really appreciated but it turns out is extremely useful while on the road.
The best money make I’ve seen is Hair Cutting, backpackers set up little signs on their beach huts advertising the fact they can cut hair and charge $5 a pop for a trim… If your staying in busy hostels and budget accomodation this can lead to a line of people all waiting for a trim and a cool $100 or so for your travelling fund! Other skills apply too – Web Designing, Building skills and Photography can all do well too.

The links in this post are affiliates – To read more please see our Disclosure Policy.

Related posts:

1. Backpacking Around Thailand on a Budget
2. Travel Inspiration #1
3. Banking tips for travelers

We have travelled in South East Asia extensively and what we’ve always found is that guidebooks just don’t give you the full low down on accommodation and guest houses. They have a massive task to review all the guest houses in any one one place and the best they can offer is a quick sentence about how clean a place is or what the facilities are like… As a backpacker I wanted personal recommendations but that wasn’t always possible when I’d just been dropped in the middle of nowhere and everyone has their face in a guidebook.

So here is my list of the best budget guest houses in South East Asia…

1. Monkey Republic – Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

   This place has it all. Cheap rooms, great staff and the best music anywhere in town. If your looking for a party in Sihanoukville you should start there! Always filled with young happy people on a spot of gap year travel.

2. Treehouse Lodge – Koh Chang, Thailand.

   This has to be the worlds best beach bar. It sits over the water and the waves lap at the rustic floor. They’ve recently stopped providing accommodation but have another location on Koh Phangan which has sweet secluded bungalows on the beach.

3. Pinocchio Guest House – Sapa, Vietnam.

   In Sapa it’s all about the view and this budget guest house has plenty of it. Small log cabins perched on the top of a hotel, one of the cheapest options in town.

4. Sea View Resort – Koh Phangan, Thailand.

   A little more pricey but what you get for you cash is a great little beach hut right on the sands of Haad Rin. Ask to see the fire spinning from one of the staff, he keeps it very quiet but is one of the best in the world!

5. Serenity Bungalows – Koh Phangan, Thailand.

   Right on Haad Rin again but this guest house is up in the hills behind Mellow Mountain Bar. It’s often overlooked when the Full Moon Party rush happens but because they don’t take bookings they usually have spare rooms. The views of Haad Rin are stunning but the steps are a killer on a hot day.

6. Tie and Milly Sunflower Bar - Koh Phi Phi, Thailand.

   A gorgeous beach bar that was build from the wreckage left by the Tsunami. Still struggling to get back on their feet but budget accommodation is on it’s way. Go there to watch the sunset!

7. YaYa Resort – Railay, Thailand.

   Tree house like tower blocks with large balconies and regular visits from monkeys. It’s in the more expensive part of Railay but still a good budget option.

8. Komala Indah 2 – Kuta Bali, Indonesia.

   Great little bungalows that vary in price from dirt cheap to inexpensive. All situated around a large and luscious garden just a minute from the beach… Free breakfast!

9. Okay Guest House - Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

   Clean and busy, a great hub to meet other travellers, arrange trips or tickets or just to chill out.

10. The Grocers Inn - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

    An oasis in KL’s vibrant China Town. A large roof terrace provides you with great views of the hustle and bustle. Clean rooms, free WiFi and best of all… Cheap.

Have you stayed in one of these places, found somewhere better or thing I’m barking right up the wrong tree?
Leave  a comment and let everyone know!
Another great resource is www.hotelscombined.com we often use it if we need to book ahead and it also comes with our recommendation… Enjoy beautiful people.

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Related posts:

1. Backpacking Around Thailand on a Budget
2. Bloggers choice awards… And our Top 10 sunsets of southeast Asia
3. 3 Best Kept Travel Secrets