After 6 months spent in Australasia we felt we should throw together a top 10 of the best things we had the chance to see/do while there. Take a look:

10. Elephants, Thailand

Riding on top of Nelly is a great experience and quite smelly too. We visited an elephant sanctuary in Chang Mai in Northern Thailand for a day and spent a few hours feeding, training, walking and washing the elephants. Yes it’s a typical touristy experience but good fun none the less!

9. Queenstown, New Zealand

Hard to put into words the town of Queenstown. It’s just so much fun. We spent a total of 5 days there and every day was full of activities and then topped off in the night with partying. You can literally do any activity you would want: skydiving, bungee, zorbing, Frisbee golf and many more. A few nights here is a must. 

8. Tubing, Laos

Not as crazy as it used to be, tubing is still worth a day out in Laos. After the government cracked down on tubing due to a number of deaths 5 years ago, the industry kind of died until recent times when a number of bars were allowed to reopen along the river. The tubing there now is a lot safer but still great fun.

7. Full Moon Party, Thailand

Yes it’s a little mainstream, but still great craic none the less. Everyone has to try it once. Each full moon the beach is crammed with thousands of people supping away on their buckets and dancing the night away. Just a word of warning, watch your bags!

6. Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

One of those places you see on postcards, the Cameron Highlands is located in the midlands of Malaysia and is the primary location for tea production in the country. We spent 6 hours hiking through the numerous tea plantations before finishing off with a nice cup of Barry’s, I mean Malaysian tea. Delish!

5. Angkor Watt, Cambodia

A trip to this UNESCO World Heritage Site is a must. Once amongst the ruins, you get a feel for how much work the lads would have had to out in back in the day to build the place. A tuk tuk tour around the site is very cheap, so the trip is not too difficult for the laziest of people. You can also visited the temple that featured in numerous Tomb Raider scenes.

4. Bagan, Myanmar

Still quite off the beaten track for many travellers in South East Asia, Bagan is a gem. Outside the town there are about 1000 Pagodas (temples) that dot the landscape. We spent sunrise amongst them and then rented bicycles to visit as many as possible during the day. Get there before it becomes saturated by tourists.

3. Skydiving, New Zealand

Yes it is possible to do skydiving anywhere in the world, but New Zealand is possibly one of the most picturesque places to do so. We skydived in Taupo which gave an amazing view of the lake as we hurtled through the air. Quick tip: wear 2 pairs of underwear.

2. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

One of the most beautiful places we saw in all of South East Asia. We joined a party crew of 60 travellers and spent 2 nights travelling around the numerous islands. On the final night we set up camp on the Castaway Island and partook in kayaking and tubing around the bay before partying the night away in the middle of nowhere. Great place!

1. Whitsundays, Australia

Without doubt 3 of the best days we spent while travelling. We spent 2 nights aboard the Broomstick along with 20 others people in their mid-twenties and got to see not only the beautiful Whitsunday Islands, but also snorkelled with turtles and fish and also drank goon until the early hours each night! What’s not to love!

Honorary mention: Sihanoukville (Sinville), Cambodia

Best party place in South East Asia. We spent 10 nights there with very little sleep and far too much One Direction music for even a 14 year old girl to stomach!

So the final stop on the Wirld tour was to the lovely city of Hong Kong. Having blown most of our cash over the past year, it felt like being a 14 year old during you summer holidays with only pocket money to your name. See how we got on.

Hong Kong

After an awesome flight on Emirates which was like a flying Marriot hotel, we landed safely in HK at 5pm. Immigration was simple and once we had our bags we got the bus to the city centre to find somewhere to stay. As Hostelworld had said that the majority of hostels were in an area called Chunking Mansions, we decided to head that direction. Little did we know that the Mansion is an infamous 18 story building where you get offered drugs every 2 minutes. Perfect! After being harassed by about 10 Indian men to stay at their hostel, we managed to get a triple room. So we dropped the bags and headed out for some dinner before hitting the hay as we were a bit wrecked.

We were up mid-morning the following day for some breakfast and to walk around the town. We made it down to the promenade for the view of the skyscrapers and the Avenue of the Stars before the skies opened and we were washed back to the hotel room for the afternoon. Once it dried up a jog was on the cards along the harbour which was nice for the 10 minutes it lasted. In need of some protein we hit up a very nice local restaurant called McDonalds as it was the cheapest thing you can get in the city. It was a Friday night and all was kicking off but we decided to save money for the Saturday night for our send off. So we just strolled the promenade to get some night photos and then headed back to the ranch.

We were up early the next day, grabbed some brekkie and went straight to the metro to go to Lantau Island to visit the big Buddha statue. After an hour travelling we got there but couldn’t see too much as the clouds covered the statue completely. But it was still nice to see the monastery and the view from the top. In the afternoon we checked out the Ladies Market back in the city before grabbing some dinner. For our last night we met up with a friend of mine Kilian, whom now lives in Hong Kong,  for some pre-drinks before heading out to the party district Lan Kwai Fong for a class night. The street is just packed with people drinking in the bars and more importantly on the streets…knacker drinking!

We woke up severely hungover the next day so productivity was at an all-time low! We spent the day moping around and munching on fast food. We finally ventured out in the evening time for some Indian food. I made the schoolboy error of asking for a spicy vindaloo. I couldn’t eat a morsel it was so hot. Poor choice. On the way back we did a little bit of Irish dancing in the street before retiring for our last sleep over together a group. Sad times.

We checked out the following morning and got the Star Ferry across to HK Island and then the bus up to the famous Peak lookout point. The views from the top were pretty amazing but the lookout itself has been made into a shopping centre so have your wallet at the ready! We moseyed on back to the hotel in the late afternoon before grabbing the last supper together at another Indian restaurant. Lesson learned this time! We picked up our bags, hopped on the bus to the airport and were on the way to the UK for a night stopover before making for Dublin.

Although we only had 4 days in Hong Kong, it was clear that’s it a cool and fun place to live. The weather didn’t do us any favours but we could definitely see ourselves stopping off here in the future (once AIB approve the loan). Thanks to Kilian for showing us around town and to the crazy Indian drug sellers who just wouldn’t take no for an answer. Persistence. I admire that.

See you all soon,

The Lads

After a few days spent relaxing in Laos, we were back to Thailand for a few days to see a bit of the North and then make our way down to Bangkok to get our visa for Myanmar. Ah sure the craic was mighty!

Udon thani

Having made it across the Laos/Thai border pretty easily we were dropped off in the evening in the random town of Udon thani in the North East of Thailand. We were greeted by lashing rain and tuk tuked it to the second bus station further outside the city> Once we arrived we received the devastating news that there were no more buses left that night going to Chang Mai in the North West of the country. That meant we would have to wait an extra 24 hours in the town, of which we knew feck all about. But it turned out grand! We went back to the city centre and found a fairly cheap hotel for the night, which happened to be situated right beside a huge shopping centre. Like staying in the Shelbourne hotel opposite the Stephen’s Green shopping centre back home! Fast food was the consumption of choice for the Boys in Green and we visited the local night market after before having an early night.

We were up mid-morning the following day and checked out. We had about 8 hours to kill so headed off to the shopping centre and had some healthy breakfast before going to the cinema to see Spiderman 2…Ah Thai culture! While in the cinema had a strange old experience when we all had tostand for a 3 minute video for the King of Thailand followed by the National Anthem. We were the only single Westerners in town, so got a fair few waves to help boost the confidence. The only other Westerners seemed to be men in their 40’s with Thai wives. They must have wondered what the feck we were doing in this part of Thailand altogether! After some Pad Thai in the evening we were off to the bus station and hopped on the bus for Chang Mai.

Both of us were up at 7am, grabbed some breakfast and then hit the road with our tour guide Jacky. Jacky was still absolutely locked from his night’s antics the night before so we were a bit wary early on but he turned out to be a nice guy. His joint while driving really sobered him out. First stop was the Elephant sanctuary when we got the chance to feed, ride (not that type) and bathe the elephants. Kev and I got a ride atop of Nelly who was as mad as a hatter.  After a big feed it was on to a large waterfall where we got the chance to jump in from about 10 metres which was good craic. The dropped us off for some bamboo rafting shortly afterwards which was pretty easy going and would have been more fun with a beer or two.  We arrived back to the hostel around 5pm and had some food before debating whether to go out or not. We decided to order a banana smoothie and see where things went….We all strolled in at 4am after a serious boogie down the local. Word of warning: Don’t let banana smoothies dictate your night.

We were fairly shattered the next day and decided a McDonald’s breakfast might save the day. Always a bad choice! We killed the day playing pool back at the hostel before boarding the bus at 6pm for an overnight run to the capital.

Bangkok

We arrived in to Bangkok at 5am fairly tired after we got very little sleep on our bus which resembled a karaoke bar. So we got our bags and walked to the hotel, checked in and got a few hours shut eye before heading to the Myanmar embassy at 9am. After much bartering with taxi drivers we eventually made it to the embassy only to find out that it was closed for some bank holiday. Body blow. We checked online afterwards and it turns out they have 22 bank holidays a year! Ah here! That left us with only one more day to get the visa, so all our hopes were pinned on Tuesday. So we headed back to the hotel just as the heavens opened, so not much was achieved. In the evening we went for some dinner with some Israeli friends and then out for some beers and dancing. We were all tucked up pretty early as we couldn’t risk not making the embassy early the following day

That said we still had heavy heads when we arose at 8am, got some breakfast and grabbed a taxi to the embassy. And it turned out to be one of those days. The queue was miles long and the visa system seriously outdated. Eventually we got our application in and were told to come back a few hours later, which we did after some lunch and finally we had the visa in hand. We headed back to the ranch to pack our small bags with clothes and then leave our backpacks at a travel agent for the length of our stay in Myanmar. For dinner we found a cheap but decent Indian restaurant and headed to bed for an early one as we were up at 4am to catch the flight. After a quick sleep, we grabbed a taxi and arrived at the airport with loads of time to spare. Some breakfast in the bellies and we were off to Myanmar.

We landed back in Bangkok at around 3pm and swiftly legged it through immigration before hopping in a Joe maxi and making our way down to Khaosan Road. We had a quick look around for cheap hotels and found one pretty central. After some street food(delish but risky) we collected our bags from the travel agency and got nice and settled in. 2 minutes later we were out the door getting laundry done and then out down to the market for some last minute purchases. A big night was planned but there was some Buddha Day in Thailand so nearly all the bars were closed, so the Boys in Green had an easy night in after some more Pad Thai.

The following day we were up early to change rooms as the room had been an absolute sauna the night before. Once the bags were moved we were straight down to the Democracy Monument to do a bit of Irish dancing. Luckily we didn’t go 24 hours later as there were bombs and gunfire there with the protesters! Once that was recorded we snook into a pool at a nice hotel pretending our mate Smudgy was staying on the 3rd floor. Nicely bronzed we went for a nice Thai massage for half an hour. Our backs were in bits after once the Thai guys were through snapping us in 2. After a quick bite to eat we were out on the tow for our final night in Thailand. After a few beers in the hostel we hit our local and had an almighty night…we think.

We managed to make it up the following morning for the taxi to the airport. All checked in we said goodbye to Thailand with some local food. A lovely Burger King.

See ya in Hong Kong,

The Lads              

A last minute addition to the Wirld tour was a trip to the exotic country of Myanmar (Burma). After a bit of stress getting the visa sorted in Bangkok it turned out to be well worth the hassle. Check out how we got on.

Yangon

We landed at around 9am in Yangon after a smooth flight from Bangkok. Once we passed through the long queue at immigration we grabbed some money from the nearest ATM. The ATM had only 1 thousand notes (€0.80) so we could barely close our wallets leaving the airport with our wads.  We hopped in a taxi and made our way to my friend from my DCU days’ house, Elaine, who is living in Myanmar. We dropped the bags off and decided to see a little of the city so went for a stroll. The map we had was not exactly to scales so we ended up strolling for a few hours in the extreme heat roasting our arses off, before we made it to the infamous Shewdagon Pagoda which is stunning.  After a quick walk through the People’s Park we decided to taste some of the local cuisine and stumbled upon a place called “Spaghetti Italian Restaurant”…delish! After a quick meal, we decided to head back to the apartment via the local supermarket as we were filthy from the few hours of walking.  During the walk back it felt like being in South America again with all the stares. Cheers for the confidence booster! All showered, we met up with Elaine and some of her work mates for some dinner and a couple of beers, but nothing too wild as these people had this strange thing called a job.

We were up early the next day and headed down to the gym in the apartment complex which was the first time in a while! Needless to say we didn’t last too long. After some breakfast we went off to the local supermarket to buy some food for lunch and we also quickly entered a Burmese beauty contest. 

Just as we made it back, the heavens opened and a thunderstorm descended onto Yangon, which was awesome to see from 17 stories up! So our plans we pretty much scuppered and we were house bound for the day. Luckily the bar downstairs had a pool table so after about 15 games we headed back upstairs for some lunch. Once Elaine was back from work we headed out with her and some other Irish ex-pats living in Yangon. And what a night it was! We chatted with them about the first Irish Gaelic team set up in Myanmar, called the Myanmar Celts and by the end of the night there were just 8 Irishmen sitting in an empty bar singing Irish songs until all hours. Serious craic! Our rendition of Westlife even went down well!

We arose with very heavy heads the next day but decided to make the most of our time in Yangon and just get on with it. After a very quick gym session we headed backed to the Pagoda as we were told it was more impressive face to face. After a short walk up we spent a few minutes walking around it with some locals helping us with some additional information before the heavens opened again. So we camped in a prayer hall with the rest and tried to keep our heads down.  With this weather, there will be nothing left of our tans by the time we are back! 

Once the rain stopped we taxied it into the city centre to book a bus to Bagan for the following day.  After a 30 minute traffic jam to go a few kilometres (literally the worst traffic we have seen in Asia) we eventually made it to another Pagoda right beside City Hall and managed to sort the bus. We raced back to the apartment (1 hour traffic crawl) and got the glad rags on for our final night in Yangon. After a few drinks at the local with Elaine we headed out for a bit of a boogie at the disco, where the locals looked a little worried to see us crack some boyband moves. 

After a bit of a lie in the next day, we headed to the Asian version of KFC, Lotteria, for some much needed cure. While there we met a young lad who was sporting an Irish soccer jersey and it turned out his mum was from the North and that he was going to live there in a few months. Maybe we will see him once day lining out for the Boys in Green…God knows we need the help. A quick chillax was on the cards before we grabbed a taxi and headed towards the bus station to catch our overnight bus to Bagan, which is famous for its hundreds of temples. The traffic was bleeding awful and we made it with just 3 minutes to spare.

Bagan

We rolled into Bagan at 3.50am having been told we would arrive at 6am, after one of the worst bus trips of the journey for me so far. It wasn’t too bad for the lads as they were sitting together, but I managed to get some homeless lad who was absolutely pissed drunk and was chasing his bottle of vodka with water for the first 4 hours. He offered me a swig too…”You’re alright mate!”. He eventually fell asleep on me after a few hours and only a few swift elbows managed to warn him off for the rest of the journey.

So we grabbed a tuk tuk and made the journey to New Bagan. As we had only planned on staying for the day we had no hotel to go to so killed some time asking hotels there prices and just using their Wi-Fi. While on a Wi-Fi run we met some English people who were going to the temples to see the sunrise. So we all got a taxi and made the short journey to the temples, climbed one of the biggest and waited for the sun to show its face. After about 20 minutes the entire area began to come to life showing us just how many Pagodas there are located over the small area. That or we were seeing double due to lack of sleep.

After an hour we went back to the town and had some typical Burmese breakfast which was delicious and laced with sugar…which was good for us as we were finally with it. We booked our bus to Mandalay for that afternoon at 4pm so had a lot of time to kill. We rented some push bikes for the day (still 7am bear in mind) and headed off to visit as many as we could before the sugar wore off. In total we cycled for around 5 hours and saw some quite spectacular Pagodas. We even got some Irish dancing done along the way. After a quick stop off for some local food and chat with the Burmese lads, we decided to head back to the town to drop the bikes back and crash for an hour before the bus. 

We boarded the bus like three zombies at 4pm and were in and out of consciousness until we rolled into Mandalay at 9pm.

Mandalay

We were dropped off outside the city so another taxi was on the cards before we made it to a street with a few hotels on it. After shopping around a bit we found a place for a pretty decent price, dropped our bags off before grabbing some food. We were absolutely shattered watching Man City win the league and headed back to the room for a much needed sleep in a bed. Before nodding off, I listened to the Robbie Williams song, “Road to Mandalay” to get me in the mood for the city. After listening to it, I realised it has feck all to do with the city and is just a very depressing song. Cheers Robbie!

We were up bright and early the next day to see what Mandalay had in store. After a quick bite to eat, we had the map in hand and were on the road ready to soak up some much needed sun too. One of the main attractions in Mandalay is the Royal Palace which is located in the middle of a 2 square mile fortress surrounded by a moat. On the map it doesn’t look that big, but by God when you have to go all the way around it to get in at 40 degrees it’s a killer. After an hour walking with many stares, waves and blown horns at us by the locals, we made it in paying $10 to access all the sites in the city.  

The Palace itself was decent but the surrounding area far more impressive. Once finished we walked a few kilometres to a cool Buddha temple and with some much needed water on board we ascended Mandalay Hill that seemed never ending in the heat. We made it to the top and the view was incredible of the whole city. After some snaps and a sneaky pray we headed back down and walked another hour or so back to the hotel, grabbing some food on the way as the Boys in Green were starving Marvin. We headed back to the room for an early night as we were checking out early the following day for our flight back to Bangkok. Once checked out the following morning, we hopped in a taxi and were off to the airport for a few nights of rest in Bangkok.

Although we only got to spend 6 days in Myanmar, the country and its people made a great impression on us. The natives are without doubt the friendliest people in South East Asia and genuinely just want to chat to foreigners with no ulterior motive.  The country is absolutely beautiful and should be visited before tourism becomes a lot more popular and some of the cities become rammed with foreign tourists. A big thank you to Elaine for putting us up in Yangon and showing us around the town with the ex-pats. If you want more information on the Myanmar Celts Gaelic football team just click here.

See ya in Bangkok,

The Lads

After some serious craic in Vietnam we had a quick stop off in Laos for 6 days to see a bit of the capital and take part in some of the infamous tubing. See how we got on below.

Vientiane

It was another fairly rubbish border crossing for the Boys in Green. After queuing up for an hour to get out of Vietnam and paying some farcical fees, we walked for about 2 km to the Laos border still nursing our cut feet from the beach football in Ha Long Bay. Once at immigration we got our visa and paid $40 for the Mickey Mouse visa and “International” stamp. As we had changed the exact amount of money for the visa, Allied Irish Bank was out of funds and thus we were forced to take part in the Trocaire 24 hour challenge fast. And to be honest it’s not as hard as everyone makes out!

We finally rolled into the capital Vientiane at around 5pm, completing the 24 hours fast perfectly and legged it straight to the nearest Italian restaurant. Absolute delish! Fully stuffed we headed to the hostel, checked in and made some travel plans for the coming days. Talk about productivity. We even checked out some job websites! Vientiane is a pretty quiet town which suited us to the ground as some serious rehab was on the cards.

We were up early the next day and grabbed some free breakfast before getting a tuk tuk about 30km outside the city to the Buddha Park, which houses huge Buddha like statues. The ride there was quite fun as you travel along the Thai border most of the way. We arrived after an hour or so (not great roads) covered in dirt and headed on into the park. There was not a whole lot to do inside apart from imitate all the statues which we expertly did. Apologies if that is offensive to anyone. 

After an hour or so we were back on the Tuk Tuk and headed to the city centre and to visit the country’s national symbol: Pha That Luang. And it didn’t disappoint. Once we got our Irish dancing video complete, we headed into the temple and the surrounding Buddha statues. The place is pretty impressive and only costs €0.50 to enter. Bargain! We had pretty much ticked off all there is to do in Vientiane so we hobbled back to the hostel and went back to our favourite Italian. In the evening we just chilled in the hostel and booked our flights home to Ireland. Ah depression central!

We checked out at 8am the following day and headed down the road to get the bus to Vang Vieng. We had heard in the hostel that they were charging €10 to get there so we thought we were being smart arses by finding a lad down the road who only charged €6. Our lad gave us our tickets and even played a few tunes on Dave before we saw the bus down the road. We strolled onto the bus to see everyone from the hostel on it and proudly asked, “How much did they rip you off for lads?”…”Eh €5”...”Oh right”. We said no more. So we were on the road on our “VIP” bus to Vang Vieng. They literally just plaster it all over every bus. Not sure if they know what the symbols actually mean!

Vang Vieng

We rolled into the sleepy town of Vang Vieng at around 4pm in the afternoon and walked in scorching heat to our hostel just off the main street. The directions said 300m, but felt more like the Dublin Mini Marathon. We arrived drenched with sweat, checked in and grabbed some food. Once settled we hopped on a tuk tuk with some English friends and went to the famous waterfall in the town.  The journey took about 30 mins along some serious rocky road. We then trekked for 20 minutes to arrive at a very disappointing waterfall. It was like leaving your hose on over the garden wall. So we just messed around a bit in the water and then headed back to the ranch to chill. We decided to go out for a few beers and dinner, and then out to watch Liverpool –v- Chelsea game at the local Irish bar run by 3 Kerry lads (yes there is one even here!). There was not a whole lot going on after so we went back to the ranch to get some rest for tubing the following day. 

We were up around 10am the next day and after brekkie walked down to the tubing shop with some Irish friends that we had met in Thailand. We rented the tubes and got a tuk tuk down to the river and the first bar. For those who don’t know, tubing is the practice of floating down the river and stopping off at bars along the way for a drink and a bit of a dance. A few years ago the Lao Government closed down all the bars due to a number of deaths, but over the past few years a number bars have been allowed to reopen and it is a much more relaxed and controlled “sport”. That said, there is still a whole lot of beer on offer! At the second bar we met a bunch of 11 Mexican lads and got involved in a game of football with them against some English guys. They were serious craic and made me miss some of the Mexican banter. Needless to say Chicharito popped up with a last minute winner, injury and all. 


A particular highlight of the day was Kev and my version of “Swear it Again” by Westlife which went down a treat on the river. After 4 bars and some serious craic, we collected our tubes and grabbed a tuk tuk back to the city, dropped them back and headed back to the ranch for some food. We then went back out into the town for a few drinks, but nothing too wild after such a long day!

We were up early next day to check out and organise the bus back to Vientiane. We rolled out at 2pm and arrived back in the capital around 5pm. First thing on the list? The Italian restaurant! Boom! We were all feeling the effects of the tubing so we retired to our sleeping quarters quite fast and booked our bus the following day to Thailand after a short but sweet trip to Laos.

Although we only spent the guts of a week in Laos we had some good craic with fellow travellers and were impressed by what the place had to offer. Tourism is still growing here but no doubt in a few years it will be packed with backpackers and the river will be full of tubes in no time. It’s back to Thailand for us for a few days!

See ya on the flip side,

The Lads

After a couple of manic weeks in Cambodia, next on the list of The Wirld tour was Vietnam. And as it turned out it happened to be one of the best places in Asia that we visited. Check her out!

Ho Chi Minh

The border crossing from Cambodia to Vietnam was nothing but eventful. Not only were the seats like coffins in a sauna, but once we made it through customs, some old man arrived at the seat of Chris and I and began shouting for us to move. We thought he want to maybe sit under our seat which we were not too happy about. So the driver intervened and told us to move. “You’re the boss”. The old man popped up our seat and began to take out a bag he had just smuggled across the border. Accessories to smuggling…that’s a new one for the Boys in Green!

Anyway we rolled into Ho Chi Minh City after our 16 hour trek at around 11am and the very moody men went straight to Burger King for some brekkie (staying health conscious and all that). Once checked into the hostel, we wasted no time and headed to the War Museum which was extremely interesting in relation to the Vietnam War. After that we went for a little stroll in the city which was one of the most challenging things known to man. I’ve never seen so many motorbikes in my entire life. You literally just had to go for it and walk across the street not thinking about the thousands of bikes circling around you.  After some grub it was back to the ranch and an early night was on the cards.

We were up early the next day for our trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which are a set of amazing underground tunnels used by the North Vietnamese army during the war to hide from the South/American forces. The tour itself was pretty decent, apart from one English arse that wouldn’t stop mouthing off the whole time. Shame he didn’t get stuck. While there, we got the chance to crawl through the tunnels, climb into the sniper holes and also fire some guns. 

After the tour we headed to the local market and en route we met some local students who interviewed foreign tourists 3 times a week as part of a class they take. We talked with them for about 30 minutes about Ireland and they seemed quite interested to learn some more about the Emerald Isle. Once we toured the market we headed back to the ranch and afterwards I went to the nearest park for a jog and was stopped a couple of times by locals who just wanted a chat. Without doubt the friendliest people we have met so far in Asia.

That evening we decided to go for some Mexican food to honour some of our Mexican friends. First thing on the menu? Full Irish Breakfast. Right then, not so Mexican it seems! A spag bol and a pizza later we departed for the local backpacker street where we had a beer with locals sitting by the side of the street. We were back in the hotel early as we wanted to get a few hours kip in before United played Bayern in the Champions League. So at 2am we were camped around the TV in our room screaming our heads off when United scored. A shame they got smashed in the end!

After a little lie in the following day we headed to another market to buy some sunglasses (gotta look good) and walked our arses off to find the Vietnamese Superquinn. Absolute Heaven! After some lunch there we headed back to the hostel, grabbed the bags and hopped on the night bus to Nha Trang on the east coast. The bus was by far the best we’ve been on in Asia!

Nha Trang

We arrive in the town at 7am and headed straight to hostel. The hostel itself was very nice but we couldn’t check in until 2pm which was a bit of a pain in the arse to say the least. Once checked in we headed to the beach which consisted of a load of Russians. We hadn’t done our research and apparently it is now THE place to go for Russians on holiday. After a quick kick around we grabbed some dinner and went out for a few beers at the local place. It was quite a tame night until it kicked off towards the end when a bunch of Russian lads started beating the holy bejaysus out of each other. Glasses were smashed, baseball bats appeared and not one security guard was in sight. Needless to say we scarpered fairly pronto as we couldn’t risk getting any injuries to our money makers…aka our faces.

The next day we changed hostel to a place much cheaper and then the 3 of us (and Sam) decided to go visit the local waterpark. We went across on what we were told was world longest cable car ride and then straight down the slides once we arrived. It was like being 5 years old all over again! We bullied kids and even raced them. To top off the day we had a group race off with the highly competitive Sam, whom on this occasion unfortunately came last. Rumours of false starts by the Boys in Green we unfounded.  After the water park it was down the beach for a game of footy with the locals. All washed up, we hit the local bar to watch some football and then played some pool as the Russian lads all kicked off again. Serious agro issues these lads. “Like cool the jets man…yizzer on yer bleedin holliers!”

The following day we just chillaxed on the beach for the day as we gathered it would be the safest place to be away from the agro heads! In the evening we headed for some Indian food which without doubt was the best food I’ve had in Asia bar none. We absolutely stuffed ourselves for €5 and waddled back to the hotel for an early one.

The next morning we checked out and booked our bus that evening to Hoi An further up the coast. To be honest we were delighted to be getting out of the town. Apart from the class waterpark it was just full of agro lads. All the best!

Hoi An

We rolled into Hoi An at 7am and got a shuttle bus directly to our hostel which was handy enough. The hostel was fairly decent and we tucked into the best buffet breakfast we have had in months. Afterwards as we waited to check in we went for a walk down to the central market and around the town itself, which is extremely picturesque (sounds like a love poem). A little midday nap was on the cards as we were wrecked, then rented some bicycles for the afternoon to go see a bit more of the town. En route I fixed my fairly wrecked bag for the grand price of €0.30. Result!

In the evening Sam and I headed off in search of a game of footy and came across what we thought were a group of 8 year olds. They turned out to be 15-20 years of age. They seriously need their veggies! After an hour or so we were off for some food and evening pool before hitting the best bar in town. Sure it could have been the George in Dublin. Not a woman in sight! So instead we hit the pool table and managed to go on a winning streak of 10 games much to the annoyance of everyone else in the bar. We hopped on some mopeds and hit the hay not long after.

A little worse for wear the following day, we booked some mopeds to drive up the coast the next day. To be honest it wasn’t a very productive day, apart from going to visit our young mates in the park for a game where they insisted on calling Sam “Peter Crouch”. In fact the similarities are striking. After we headed to the town for a lovely meal and a stroll through it which is beautiful at night time with candles floating down the river. We were tucked into bed by 10pm ready for the lad’s big day out.

The alarm clock at 6am was not a welcomed one but the buffet brekkie greatly helped. We grabbed the mopeds and were on the road for our 7 hour trek to Hue where we would meet our overnight bus to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. The ride itself was unreal with some breath-taking views along the way, some of which included the Buddha Statue, Elephant Waterfalls and the sight of 2 double decker buses over taking a 3 ton truck. Definitely the most breath-taking. We eventually arrived in Hue at around 3pm and had a little drive around to see the beautiful Citadel in the centre before leaving our bikes at the travel agent and grabbing the overnight bus. Unfortunately we were placed at the back of the bus and every time it hit one of many bumps our heads would smash against the ceiling. Great night!

Hanoi

We arrived in Hanoi again at 7am and hoped in a taxi to the hostel. We killed a few hours playing pool and then checked in. Sam and I again decided to go in search of a game of football with the locals which turned out to be one of the most surreal situations of the trip. The taxi man drove over a huge bridge in the city and dropped us mid-way and told us to go down the stairs and trek through a jungle island for 10 minutes and eventually we would come across a pitch. After 5 minutes we began to notice something in the distance. Yes indeed a pitch…and yes with locals playing football. “But wait a second…are they in the nip?!”. As we drew level with the pitch our worst fears were realise. They were all bleeding naked! As Sam and I were beginning to get our kit off to join the game a diseased looking dog began running over the pitch in hunt of the white lads. Picking up our belongings we absolutely sprinted down the island and back to the bridge much to the amusements of the locals. Gutted we got no game. It would have brought a new meaning to the term “Big man up front”.

We had a relatively easy night by our standards that night as we had booked the Ha Long Bay trip for the following morning.

Ha Long Bay

We were up again circa 6am, wolfed down some scrambled eggs and hoped on the bus along with 70 other backpackers for 2 night of utter madness. 2 hours later we arrived at the port, took a short speed boat across to our main boat where we would stay for the first night. The boat itself was better equipped than some hostels! We kicked off with a few beers on deck along with lunch and in the afternoon did some kayaking around some amazing caves. After some dinner the beers kept on rolling and we met a good crew of Irish and English lads, including the infamous Mike.  The night itself was nothing too wild and ended around 3am.

That said we were up at 7am again so sleep was kept to a bare minimum! After some breakfast we changed boats and headed towards Castaway Island. Once we arrived we checked into our mini huts and had an almighty game of beach football. The sand itself was full of shells and glass so everyone was in bits by the end. As you can guess the Boys in Green nicked a last minute winner with a long ball to the big man up front.  In the afternoon we did some tubing around the bay which was great craic. After some dinner the party got into full flow. We managed to get our hands on the music system and the Westlife tunes were pumping until all hours. By the end it was just the 4 of us left dancing…result! 

We arose at 7am broken men...but that didn’t stop the party continuing. On the boat back we kept the party rolling with some One Direction tunes and once we made it back to the hostel in Hanoi we headed to the nearest karaoke bar to sing…well, you can imagine what. And what a performance we put it!

Hanoi

After the three days of cultural activities, we were very tired men the following day and managed to check out on time and book our bus to Laos for that evening. We even managed to get the visa photos taken and an Irish dancing video done. Talk about productivity! At 5pm we hoped on the bus and bid goodbye to the crew we had assembled in Vietnam and we were on our way, trapped like sardines in the back row. It is important to add that Sam made an early morning disappearance to Thailand without a goodbye to 2 of the BIG, which was tough to get over. But we move on.

To be honest Vietnam really surprised us. We had not expected the local people to be so friendly, welcoming and interested in where we came from. The country itself is extremely interesting and picturesque. If we could go again (and with a serious AIB loan) we would definitely recommend biking the whole country. Just wear your helmet! Big thanks to all the locals we met who made it so easy to travel around and also all the backpackers with whom we shared some serious craic.

Off to Laos,

The Lads

Over the past few months while I’ve been travelling the world, a number of friends have contacted me asking how it is possible to travel for year without a steady income. Questions have varied from, “Am I a secret millionaire?” to “Am I pimping my body out at night?”. And the answer is a no to all…well apart from the latter for which I received no payment whatsoever.  

The truth is that travelling the world on a budget IS possible. All that is needed is some careful planning and changes to your lifestyle. Here are my 10 tips for getting up off your backside, hitting the road and making your money stretch as far as possible.

Plain and simple: you have to save as much cash as you possibly can while in gainful employment. And it’s not always pretty. Saving your arse off means cutting excess in your personal life and this is something that not everyone can do. Cut material possessions out of your life as much as possible. People value your stories and experiences way more than your new iPhone 5S or Louis Vuitton bag.

While working and saving to travel I lived with my father for a year which greatly helped saving cash. Obviously not everyone wants to live with a parent for a variety of reasons, but if you really want to travel cuts have to be made where possible. 

Once you have enough cash to go, quit your job or if you are lucky enough take work leave (I suppose that depends if you like your job or not). I was quite nervous about handing in my notice, but once it was done it was a huge weight off the shoulders. Yes there were a few moments of cold feet, but you just have to tell yourself that if you don’t do it now, you never will and then will be in the same job for the next 40 years.

Seems quite a simple idea but it works. From the beginning I decided I would try and visit countries that were considerably cheaper than Europe, with the obvious exception of Australia and New Zealand which absolutely smashed my bank account.

But it makes sense. Your money goes a lot further. Places like Central America, South America and Asia offer you a lot more bang for your buck. And from personal experience they have an awful lot more to offer in terms of sights and activities than more developed countries where the price of living is 3+ times the rate.

Cooking for yourself in hostels saves tons of money. Obviously many countries have their speciality dishes which you must try, but this can’t be done on a daily basis unless in super cheap countries. Buying your food at the local supermarket for the coming few days leaves you with much more disposable income to spend on the fun things.

I learned this the hard way. I was all the way down to Brazil before it became obvious that I could no longer eat out as it was eating (excuse the pun) into my daily budget. But once I began cooking, it left me with a lot more spare cash. Where possible, try and split food and cooking duties as this cuts costs significantly. 

Although not always great for your health, fast food can also be a cheap alternative if you do want to eat out…just do so in moderation! 

Stuffy, cramped and bags strewn all over the floor. That’s not why everyone loves hostel dorms…it’s because they are cheap. Do your research before moving to a new town on Hostelworld so that you make the right choice and get the best value for money. Always make sure it has the key B.I.K included in the price: Breakfast, Internet and Kitchen. These 3 will ensure you are not wasting more cash during your stay.

Although not ideal living conditions, dorms can also be the most fun part of your trip. It’s where you meet the majority of your fellow travellers and you can even make little forts if you are lucky enough to have a bottom bunk. Just bring the ear plugs for the usual 3am drunks stumbling in and trying to get it jiggy with it on the top bunk while 11 other people listen on in fear for their lives. 

Working in hostels along your journey can be a great way to get free accommodation and maybe also make some money on the way. Most hostels do require a minimum stay of 2 weeks, which could be a problem if you have a tight timescale for travelling, but it’s the best way to stay for free in the middle of a city. 

While travelling I worked in an Irish hostel/bar with the lads in Bolivia and we had accommodation and food free for the length of our stay, not to mention the odd drink or 4 at the bar. In one week of staying in La Paz I spent €30 in total, which is pretty insane for the amount of partying we did. We also even busked singing One Direction for the day in New Zealand and made $20!

Volunteering is also a great thing to do while on the road. There are lots of charities that you can contact through your hostel who are always looking for people to help out. This doesn’t necessarily save you money but makes you feel good while getting to know the local community.

I volunteered with a local charity called My Small Help in Peru helping a family raise much needed funds for their daughter who is wheelchair bound. Going to their family home on a daily basis were some of the most memorable days of travelling as a whole.  

This doesn’t apply to everyone, but if English is your first language an excellent way to make some money on the road can be to teach English to locals. All you need is a TEFL certificate which you can get at any accredited institution or even online. Bring your laptop with you to help with class plans and material.

I taught English on a few occasions with the guys during our journey while staying with some friends in South America.  It was a way of giving something back to them for giving an insight into their country and culture. It also gave me the chance to show how great Ireland is. And now even a few of them have gone to study there. 

Possibly the most important part of travelling the world is watching what you spend. With no income on a regular basis you can’t just splash the cash, unless you want to be heading home in the near future. A few tips I have picked up over the past year are:

 a.       Budget Daily:

Try to take note of everything you spend. Obviously this can be hard sometimes if you go partying but try guess as best you can. Giving yourself a daily budget and documenting what you spend greatly helps. It’s not just about curbing your spending, but sometimes when you spend next to nothing, you won’t feel bad for splurging on other days.

 b.      Birthdays/Christmas

These are the perfect times of the year to kindly ask for donations in the form of cheque or cash to the Travelling Around The World Association.

 c.       Use your debit/credit card

It’s the safest way to travel by far as you are never carrying too much cash. Check with your bank if there is any way you can avoid bank withdrawal fees abroad. For example, when I loaded cash onto my credit card and then withdrew I was never charged a withdrawal fee thus saving a nice bit of money on the way. 

 d.      Pre-drink in hostels

Gone are the days of drinking in bars for the evening I’m afraid. That means doing some pre-gaming in hostels before heading out. And sure that’s where the best craic is anyway! Also never bring out your bank card on a night out…ever.

 e.      Don’t get involved in group tabs

Pretty simple but effective. In some countries it is common to buy bottles of spirits for the table, but try avoiding this in the politest way possible as you will just end up stumping a huge bill. Stick to your own beer.

 f.        Listen to other travellers experiences

One of the best ways of not getting ripped off is listening to fellow travellers experiences. They can recommend hostels, tours operators and places to visit and also give a roundabout price that you should expect to pay, which helps greatly when you arrive in a new city. 

“Use” might be seem like a bit of a harsh word but it’s what you should do while travelling. After all that’s what friends are there for, to help you out. So open up your diary or Facebook and get in contact with that Brazilian girl you talked with for 7 minutes at a nightclub 6 years ago in Dublin. Maybe she has a spare couch! You can always return the favour in the future.

I was lucky to have a number of friends dotted around the globe who were fantastic and generously lent me and the lads a place to crash along the journey which obviously saved a bit of money. It also gives you the chance to meet some real locals and get out of the hostel lifestyle for a few days at least.

Couchsurfing is an excellent resource to use when travelling. You can find a place to crash in virtually any city in the world and again gives you a great chance to meet locals and experience a new culture first hand. A word of warning, especially to girls: do as much research as possible before you go to a stranger’s house. Read reviews and do a bit of snooping on Facebook to see if the person is genuine or a complete serial killer. 

Most people imagine that when you travel the world every day is hectic from morning until night, but the reality is somewhat different. For all the amazing days and experiences there are also many days off, doing very little in order to save money for the other events. These are the days that not many people write about, but they are essential when travelling.

I found that these days can also be some of the most enjoyable of all. They give you the chance to lounge around all day, chatting to new and interesting people with not a care in the world. These are the days you will remember when you are working behind a desk for the next 40 years, so appreciate them.

After the relative blur that was Thailand, up next on the Wirld Tour was Cambodia which was a bit of an unknown for the 3 of us. But we were pleasantly surprised by its beauty and the friendliness of the locals given its sad recent history. See how we got on below.

“After a pretty awful border crossing thanks to the lads who tried to rob us on the Thai side, we made it to immigration, paid the $20 for our visa, got through, only to join an even longer queue. After about an hour we made it through and hopped on a shuttle bus to the local bus station. After being told we would have to wait an hour until the bus left, we decided to leave along with our Australian mate Sam on our own bat. We legged it outside and found a random lad Ant who offered to drive us for 2 hours to Siem Reap for $28…bargain. The drive itself flew in and Ant shared some info about daily life in Cambodia. Perhaps he went a little far when he mentioned what he liked to do on a Friday night with his week’s wages. Best not get into that!

Seim Reap

Ant dropped the 4 of us off on Pub Street, which does exactly what it says on the tin, at about 8pm. We quickly found a hotel, dumped the bags and grabbed some food having eaten nothing all day. After dinner we went for a couple of alcoholic beverages but nothing too wild as we were all shattered following the long day travelling.

We got up early the next day for some much needed breakfast and then organised a tuk-tuk to take us for the day around Angkor Wat and other temples in the area for the grand price of $10…Boom! So our driver San brought us first to a small temple which was quite impressive, then to the Tomb Raider temple and finally to Angkor Wat itself, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Another one for the list! To say it was impressive would be an understatement. After a quick Irish dance in front of some very amused locals we spent an hour or so wandering around the temple and chilled by the moat before getting the tuk-tuk back in the evening.  Along the way the driver San kept offering us to meet local girls for some “boom boom”.  You’re alright mate.

We headed straight to a traditional Cambodian BBQ in the city, where you are given your choice of 4 raw meats and you cook it yourself on a grill which is on the table. Pretty unreal. After an hour of cooking and having ate beef, chicken, fish, crocodile, duck and frogs legs we looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie 9 months. Preggers to the max! We went for a few scoops after but the beer didn’t really have much effect as the meal soaked it all up far too effectively. So we retired to our sleeping quarters knowing that we were getting a bus the following morning to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.

Phnom Penh

We were up and checked out by 11 the next day and on the road to Phnom Penh. We were told the journey itself would be 4 and half hours but ended up being a horrible 7 hour journey in a cooped up minivan. We were absolutely raging! Cooled off a bit, we grabbed a tuk tuk and headed towards our hostel which was due to be in the lovely area of Lakeside if the city. Unfortunately we hadn’t know that the government drained the lake a year ago and thus tourism had died in the area. So we were staying in a hostel, with pushy workers who wanted to sell us trips the following day. Not taking no for an answer we had to retire to the room for the night.

The 4 of us were up early the following morning, to both avoid the pushy owner and also to see the sights of the city. We grabbed a tuk tuk to go visit the Killing Fields which were about 40 minutes outside the city. Without doubt it was the most sobering places I have visited during our year long trip. The Killing Fields in Phnom Penh are one of the many sites where the Socialist Khmer Rouge killed up to 3 million innocent people during 1975-79. They arrested anyone they thought were spies, tortured them and their entire family members and finally killed them in mass graves. We spent about 2 hours wandering around the area with an audio guide and finally decided to head back to the city having seen one of the most haunting places possible.


We grabbed the tuk tuk back to city for some lunch and then headed off to evening markets, for some purchases and back to the ranch for some dinner and chillaxing in the hostel. We also noticed in this city the amount of dirty old sex tourists on every corner. Men about 50-60 years old sitting having dinner with 3-4 local girls, who God only knows what age they are. 

We checked out early the next day, dumped our bags in the hostel and the three of us went to the S21 prison in the city centre while Sam went shopping. The prison itself was where the majority of the prisoners were tortured. In fact when liberated, many victims were found still tied to the beds having been tortured and killed. What made the place even scarier was that the Khmer Rouge documented each person they interrogated and took their photo. All these photos can be seen at the prison. In particular the photos of young children are haunting. 

After enough depression for another day we swung by the Central Market to pick up Sam, got our bags in the hostel and rented a minivan to drive us 4 hours to Sianhoukville, which is a party town in the south, better known as Sinville. En route we picked up our friend Gough who had flown into the city and we were on the road with the aim of getting there just in time for a night out! We picked up some beers on the way and within no time the Westlife tunes were flowing!

Sinville

We rolled into Sinville at about 10pm, checked into our hotel and got our glad rags on. It is also important to note that this was the first time we had our own private room in 11 months! Such a luxury. We grabbed a few beers and headed down the beach which was packed. After a few hours we got a tuk tuk to a music festival about 20 minutes away. Queue more tunes in the tuk tuk. The festival was serious craic and went on until the early hours!

We were up pretty late the following day as you can imagine, so just spent the day on the beach chillaxing and pigging out a little. On the beach are loads of little kids selling everything from sunglasses to bracelets. Honestly they are seriously intelligent kids. For every rebuff you have they have a comeback. “No, it’s ok, I don’t want one”…”Ok fine, then buy two”.  Top lads! After the beach we headed for some diner to watch the football and then we were back on the tiles again, which was a little less packed than the previous night but just as much craic.

The following day we rented some scooters and went to see a little more of the town. I was fairly awful on the scooter as it was my first time on one…a bit like Jay from the Inbetweeners trying to drive Neil’s new moped home for the first time. Eventually I got the hang of it and we spent the day at some remote beaches outside the town. No fewer than 2 minutes after we rented the bikes, we were stopped by police who demanded to see our licences. A dollar each of a bribe and we were back on the road, only to be stopped a mile later by another policeman who wanted a bribe. “Here man, we just paid the fine to your buddy back there”…”ok go on!”.  Serious system!

So we dropped off bikes and went to watch some more football before heading out again! Not much else to do in the town. At the first bar, I was pretty well stung when the lads nominated me to sing with the band playing. After much protest I had no choice so gave Wonderwall a whack. It went grand and got some free beer for my troubles. Work and travel…easier than it seems.

Koh Rong

We were up early the next day as we booked the boat to Koh Rong which is an idyllic island about 2 hours away from Sinville and also because we needed some serious rehab! The boat across was seriously slow and we eventually arrived at about 4 in the evening. The island itself is beautiful but full of stoners which is not really our cup of Barry’s tea. We played football for an hour or so on the beach and then went for some dinner and a few scoops to unwind. We also went for a little night swim to see the infamous plankton which was quite an experience. They were literally glowing around you as you swam. We hit the hay hoping for a decent night sleep. How wrong we were!

The electricity on the island is switched off at 12am so that means no fans for the whole night. Queue a horrifically hot room at 25 degrees. No one could get a wink sleep with the heat and mosquitos and at one stage I lay awake only to hear Kev in the other room say to himself in the most depressing of voices “This is misssserrrabllllee”. When we did manage to get a bit of shut eye it was interrupted by the roosters going off at 5am and the builders starting work at 7. So much for a chilled out island. Pissed off we check out and found another hotel down the beach for the second night. So we dropped our bags there and decided to head to the infamous Long Beach for the day.

We did a one hour trek to Long Beach which was actually quite tough in flip flop as we had to climb a hill and then descend some rocks absolutely sweating our arses off. We also had to avoid the many snakes that were said to reside in the jungle. No bother! Eventually we made it there as the sweatiest men alive. But it was worth it. One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.  It is about 8km long with only a handful of people dotted along it. We spent 4 hours chilling there and playing some football before getting a dodgy taxi boat back to the main port in the evening. Once there we played a game of football against the locals, which we won comprehensively, but who is keeping score right? Kev and I also equalled our headers record of 37 which impressed a couple of Canadians on the beach.

We headed out that night for some food and a beer but again nothing wild. We retired to the bedroom in hope of a good night sleep. Unfortunately things weren’t much better, so when the roosters went off at 7am, we were up, packed and sitting at the dock for the ferry ready to go!  We were off to the mainland for a decent night sleep.

Sinville

We arrived back at about 1pm and planned our stay for another 3 nights in the city of Sin (of Cambodia). We booked our bus for Vietnam in 3 days times so that meant we had to go to the Vietnamese Embassy to buy our visa for $60…bit steep! We headed along to the embassy only to be told we would have to wait for 2 days for it to be processed as they were nearly finished work for the day at 3.30pm. Grand. So with that news we returned to what we do best: playing football on the beach and then heading for a few scoops at night. But thank God we finally got a decent night sleep! The following day it was Sam’s birthday so we went on a booze cruise for the afternoon, stopping off on the way for a few cannon balls and tequilas. The cruise itself was about 4 hours and serious banter. Once back to the mainland, we watched some footy (we sound like hooligans on holiday) and then went out for the night. Sam thinks he had a good night. 

We checked out the next day, legged it to the embassy to collect our visa and waited around for our night bus. At 8pm we hoped on the night bus. Words can’t explain the type of bus we boarded. The seats resembled sun loungers that were stuck in the upright position. So the first few hours were not the best to Phnom Penh, but once there were changed to a more comfortable bus for our final run at the Vietnam border. Fingers crossed the air con works!

Cambodia itself has been a real hidden gem on our trip. It’s a country with a very sad recent history which can be hard to comprehend but it is developing. For backpackers it is perfect: cheap, accessible, lots of partying and friendly/educated locals. Big thanks to all the cool people we met along the way, in particular Gough and Sam, who made the trip so memorable.

On the road again,

The Lads

After our sober stay in Malaysia, next on the list was to the not so sober Thailand for about 3 weeks. See how we got on below…if we can remember accurately enough!

Phuket

After a quick 1 hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket, we arrived at about 8.30pm where we met an English friend Emily with whom we had met in South America and hoped into a taxi towards our hostel in downtown Phuket. To be honest there is not a whole lot to see in Phuket apart from some red light districts and very seedy middle aged men. We still have a few years to go! We checked in, organised our boat for the following morning and hit the hay for an early night.

Phi Phi

We were up early the following day for some breakfast at the hostel followed by a short bus trip to the pier to board the boat. The boat itself was jam packed with mid-twenties travellers with many nursing severe hangovers across the rocky seas. Once we arrived we met up with a friend from DCU, Gough, who had organised our accommodation in the centre of the town. Kev and I became roomies for the few days and managed to hike the 300 steps to our room on the mountains, showered, grabbed a bite to eat and went straight out for a night on the town with the rest. 

The next morning we were all nursing severe hangover, which were induced by our first few buckets in a number of years. The key ingredient of Red Bull must have some sort of drug in it, as you are wired until about 8am and even when you do eventually head to bed, the song “When you’re looking like that” by Westlife just resounds in your head for another few hours.  After a Pad Thai for breakfast, which was to become our dedicated meal in Thailand, we headed on down to the beach to relax. We were back in the room early enough to prepare for Brain O’Driscoll’s last home game for Ireland and legged it to the nearest Irish bar to get the best seats in the house. Eventually the bar got the stream going for the game and the party was in full flow as Ireland ran out convincing winner, setting up not only a potential Six Nations win, but also a serious night of partying!

The following day we got a day boat out to Maya Bay, made infamous from the movie The Beach, and did some snorkelling before having a nice beer on the beach itself. On the way back we stopped off at Monkey Island, took some snaps with the little lads and headed back to Phi Phi just in time for some dinner (Pad Thai of course). As it was our final night in Phi Phi, we did what we do best: got some buckets and partied on the beach all night!

Arising from our beds the next day was a toughie. And the trip that followed even worse:  4 hour boat to the mainland (like Father Ted), 6 hours bus across the country and another 3 hour boat to Koh Pahang. It was worse than driving from Dublin to Galway back in the 90’s!

Koh Phanang

Finally we arrived on the island of Koh Phanang at about 8pm and made our way to the hotel cabins located right on the party beach: Serious spot! A quick spag bol later and we were fast asleep in our beds as we knew what lay ahead over the coming days: lots of cultural walks and tours of course (that’s just for the Mammies).

The following day a number of friends we had made in Phi Phi had arrived on the island and our crew was properly assembled. We chilled on the beach for the day playing some tag rugby and in the evening went for a few buckets on the beach, but nothing too wild as the following day was the infamous Full Moon Beach Football Tournament. Rumour has it this is where Messi actually learned his trade. Due to the fact that Chris had suffered a career threatening injury with his old man knees and Kev had recently pulled a muscle in his back while summersaulting through a ring of fire, I was the only Wirld member able to take part in the tournament. Once we got a team together with Gough, our eccentric goalie, we kicked off. After a shaky first game ended in a draw, we managed to grind out 3 very big wins against decent teams and qualify for the quarter finals the following day. We actually looked to Big Jack Charlton for some tactical inspiration: “Just kick it up to the big man up front!”.  An unbeatable formula! We kept up the Paul McGrath soccer diet and went out celebrating that night on the beach! Not a great idea really.

With weary heads, we meandered to the pitch the following afternoon for the quarters. After a slow start we got going, won 4-1, beat the Israelis in the hotly contested semi on penos and then waltzed the final 2-0. Celebration time for the Boys in Green!

The following day was full moon party so we just chilled on the beach, grabbed some Pad Thai and got our illuminous clothes ready for the big night. The party itself also coincided with Ireland’s final Six Nations game to win the championship which kicked off at 12 midnight! Not really a tough choice though! After a few drinks on the packed full moon beach, we ran to the nearest bar which had the game on and watched the amazing game unfold. Thank Jesus we won! Queue an unreal full moon party.

The next day we decided to leave the island and head to Kao Tao about a 3 hour boat away for some detox: oh wait St Patricks day was the following day!

Koh Tao

We had an easy first night on Koh Tao in preparation for St Patrick’s Day. We managed to find a pub crawl, donned our glad rags and painted ourselves green before hitting the town. On the pub crawl we stopped off at a ladyboy show which was an experience to say the least. Not everyone’s cup of tea. We even made some mates to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with!

The next few days we spent chilling by the beach and taking in some rehab on the beautiful island. One of the days we grabbed a taxi boat out to a remote islands did some cliff jumping which was great craic altogether. As we departed for Bangkok, en route to Cambodia, we said goodbye to an awesome crew of lads we had made while travelling through Thailand and got back on the road…well boat first! 

Bangkok

We made it to Bangkok after another nightmarish journey and arrived at 3am with nowhere to stay so headed central and booked in for a night at a hotel. Only downside was that we had to wait until 6am to check in so killed time on the streets of Bangkok. Once in the hotel we grabbed a few hours’ sleep before getting up just before midday to see some of the city. As it was an election day BK was pretty quiet so we headed to a local market for some bargains before heading back to the ranch for some dinner.

After dinner we booked a bus for the following morning to Cambodia. As we were due to leave at 7am the smart option would have been to have a quiet night in. Scrap that! We had a few beers on Koo San road and it was a mad night all round with people dancing in streets. We were off to bed just after midnight so got some shut eye before arising to catch the bus.

So the next morning a guy arrives at the hotel at 7am and says in Thai, “Follow me lads”. So we walk outside with our bags and your man hops on a motorbike and speeds down the road. We slowly make it down the road and once at the corner he speeds off again. It was like a scene from Trigger Happy TV. Eventually we made it to the bus and crammed into a horrible mini bus for a 6 hour trek to the border. However we were dropped off about 2km from the border and the locals tried to scam us by telling us we needed to buy a visa from them for $35, when we knew it cost $20 at border. Pure arseholes. Once we refused they got a bit mad and sent us on our way. We flew through immigration paying the correct amount and were on our way!

We have probably been at our culture discovering lowest while in the south of Thailand, but we had already kind of known what lay in store before we arrived. But without doubt it has been a seriously fun 3 weeks. We met some really sound lads and had probably the most fun over the whole of our trip. We will be back before the end of the trip so hopefully we will be a little more culturally aware next time and not just stick to the Pad Thai!


The Lads

After the spiritual bliss of Indonesia, we were on the road again, this time to the beautiful country of Malaysia for just over a week, which was also the only Islamic country on the Wirld tour. Check out how we got on below.

Kuala Lumpur

Our flight touched down in Kuala Lumpur airport at about 1am after a serious rocky flight from Bali where the airhostesses almost bashed their heads off the ceiling during some turbulence. Top notch piloting it must be said. Once safely on the ground we were pretty fast through immigration and customs before realising we had missed the last bus to the city so we grabbed an extortionate taxi for the 1 hour ride to the city. Serious trek. We arrived to the hostel around 3am and went straight to the leaba to catch some shut eye. The beds in the hostel were quite different from anything we had experienced before and were like little pods with its very own mirror, double bed, light, plug and curtain.

We were up at around 10am the following day for some breakfast which was fried rice and watermelon.  I mean…the fried rice was delish, just not at 10am in the morning. With a slightly queasy belly Kev headed to the doc to get a check-up while Chris and I went for a little walking tour of the city. We stopped off at Merdeka Square, where Malaysia announced its independence in 1957, and then visited the local museum which gave a detailed history of the country. 

Once Kev was out, we all headed off for a nice Irish lunch in O’Brien’s, which you will be glad to know also has a significant mark up in Malaysia compared to similar food in other restaurants. After stuffing ourselves with a BLT (no real bacon allowed) we went to the local barbers for a haircut and a beard trim, which was quite an experience. The barber shop was the place to be in KL, with many locals stopping by just for a chat. Once upon the chair, the barber raced through a haircut and expertly trimmed our beards (well 2 and a half beards). The hairdresser himself was as mad as a bag of snakes and occasionally burped in our faces while he also gave us a head massage that resembled someone playing the bongo! 

That evening we took the metro across to the infamous Petronas Towers, which were spectacularly lit up at night time, but it was almost impossible to get a decent photo angle with the whole building in so resorted to lying on the ground while cars drove by. Afterwards we headed back towards the hostel and grabbed a bite to eat at the Central Market, where tasty dishes cost €1.20. We also chatted to some of the friendly locals too who were more than happy to talk about their beloved country.  All full up the three gentlemen retired for the evening to their individual pods. Talk about rehab. We are like 3 Alcoholic Anonymous graduates on holidays at Lourdes!

We checked out early the next morning, had some noodles for breakfast and walked to the bus station before hopping on a bus to Penang, an island in the north west of Malaysia.

Penang

We arrived in Penang just before sunset on the outskirts of the city and grabbed a local bus for 45 minutes to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Georgetown. We were dropped off in Little India and after a while walking around managed to find our way to our hostel where we checked in. The place was fairly small but cosy. As it was getting late we headed to Little India and got some quality curry for dinner which burned our mouths off. Afterwards we returned to the hostel to get some shut eye, but it wasn’t too successful thanks to our Japanese roommate who snored nonstop from 12am until 9am the following morning. Lovely fella.

To avoid our new mate, whom we named Terence, we got up early, ate some brekkie and went to discover the town. The heat was quite unbearable so the walking tour only last about an hour, but during which we saw the main parts of the old city. To cool down we stopped by Little India for another excellent curry and then visited the largest mosque in Georgetown. As Malaysia is the only Islamic country we shall be visiting on our trip, we were keen to learn a bit more about the religion. Once inside the mosque, we were dressed in lovely purple onesies and then given a walking tour of the mosque. Afterwards our tour guide gave us a very interesting and detailed explanation of Islam which gave us a much better insight compared to a lot of the propaganda seen on our television sets back home.

In the afternoon, Chris and I got the local bus to the nearest beach which was about 45 minutes away by bus.  I swear that Eddie Irvine himself was driving the bus as we took some corners at 100km, with old ladies hanging on for dear life. A quick jog and dip in the sea later, we decided to head back to the hostel. En route Chris made a really nice new friend on the bus. The lad had one eye and just pointed at things,made their shape with his hands and asked Chris if he agreed. At one stage he began berating a young lady at a bus stop while we both looked on mortified. We all headed out for some noodles for dinner (not the mad fella) which burned the bloody mouth off the three of us.  An early night was on the cards as there was not a whole nightlife in the town itself.

We grabbed some breakfast early the next morning and made a horrible walk to the bus station in excruciating heat before hopping on the bus to the Cameron Highlands which was due to be a 5 hour journey.

Cameron Highlands

The bus rolled into the Cameron Highlands town of Tanah Rata at about 7pm and we wandered over to our hostel which was pretty nice and very cheap. The town itself is about 1500m above sea level so the jumpers were out within seconds. Once checked in, we did the best thing there is to do in Malaysia and went eating again. Yet again we visited an Indian restaurant and popped into the local shop for some sneaky Cadburys chocolate before returning to the hostel to have a few games of FIFA Fitness…you know the beaches of Thailand are coming soon!

We were up and ready to go by 8am the following day as we planned to trek through the infamous tea plantations of the Cameron Highlands. After some scrambled egg on toast and orange juice that tasted like Fairy liquid, we hopped in a taxi and made our way to the nearest town of Bichrang, where the Trek began. The hostel said it would take about 6 hours. They had obviously never heard of The Wirld’s Speed Tourism. We trekked uphill through the jungle for about 2 hours which was pretty tough, but not too bad as we are as hard as nails. Once at the top we climbed the lookout post with decent views of the countryside, but we couldn’t see much of the tea plantations. As we had forgotten to purchase a map, we followed the trail for another 5 km or so and made it to a break where we found some beautiful plantations. We sneaked in to the fields and managed to walk for an hour all the way to the tea factory with some spectacular views along the way. 

We arrived at the factory mid-afternoon and ordered a cup of tea straight away with some strawberry cheesecake. Lunch of Champions. The tea was decent but no Barry’s. All filled up, we trekked another 5 km down to the nearest town, where there was a huge traffic jam. As the town was 20km from our hostel we had to grab a taxi. And what a taxi we got! The driver was fairly well on by the smell of his whiskey breath but he was full of the joys telling us about the town. We were stuck in the jam for about an hour and even picked up an elderly Italian couple who used all their English vocabulary in about 6 minutes. Queue the taxi driver just naming everything he knew about Italy and them saying yes. His knowledge of Ireland was pretty limited so just explained Guinness to him and he seemed happy enough with that. Once back at the ranch, we got washed up, sneaked in some FIFA Fitness and headed out for some sweet Indian food for dinner. As the bodies were beginning to ache we retired early to get a good rest in.

We were up early the next day to check out and hopped on the early bus to Kuala Lumpur to give ourselves enough time before our flight in 2 days’ time. We checked into the hostel and booked a bus for the following day to Malacca 2 hours south of Kuala Lumpur. The hostel itself was in a red light district so was fairly seedy as we arrived in the lashing rain. And by the looks of things, the locals would have to be in desperate need if they were to avail of the services.

Malacca

After a very comfortable bus journey early the next morning we arrived in Malacca and began looking around the old colonial town. The town itself is also a UNESCO World Heritage site and is extremely beautiful, with evident Portuguese and English influence. We strolled down Jonkers Street before picking up some lunch at the local food market.  All full up, we climbed the local tower which gave excellent views of the city and visited the nearest market where we picked up a couple of things before hoping on the bus back to Kuala Lumpur. Once back in KL, Kev got a final check up at the doc who gave him the green light for drinking and we grabbed a bite to eat at the local Indian before hitting the hay fairly wrecked after a long day out.

Kuala Lumpur

We were up early the next day to check out of the hostel and try get our bags all packed for the flight to Thailand. As there has not been a laundry for a while, I feel particularly sorry for the sniffer dogs at KL airport. Once all ready, we had about 5 hours to kills and decided to visit the infamous Blue Mosque about an hour outside the city. We made a schoolboy error and forgot to write the name of the mosque down, so when we arrived at the town by train people told us various mosques to visit. In the end we hopped on the wrong bus but ended up at an equally as impressive mosque in the centre of Putrajaya, donned our robes and got a tour of the beautiful mosque. While inside we were introduced to a local who had studied in the Dublin Business School and only had good words about the capital as well as the mosque on the South Circular Road. After a chat with his family we headed out and did some Irish dancing before grabbing the bus back to the station and getting our bags at the hostel. Bags in hand we boarded the train and headed to the airport for the next leg of our trip: a nice little holiday in Thailand!

A big thank you for the warm welcome to all the people of Malaysia. It was quite fitting that we did not have a drink of alcohol during the whole time we were in the only Islamic country on the Wirld tour. We got the chance to learn a lot about the diverse cultures in the country and also gained a greater understanding of Islam in general (that’s deep). Cheers for the awesome curry too!

See ya in Thailand!

The Lads