For our final 3 weeks in Bali we decided to stay put and take it easy in a lovely village called Cucukan. I’ll firstly share with you the day trips we took while staying in Cucukan. Our first trip was to the Blue Lagoon for lunch and an afternoon of snorkelling. It was a little more off the beaten track. You wouldn’t really know what was at the bottom of this path.
But this is what you find!
So many amazing shades of blue!
Not a bad way to spend an afternoon at all!
Monthly Archives: November 2013
Sanur, Bali
We were sad to say goodbye to Thailand but really excited to spend the last 3 weeks of our amazing journey in Indonesia. Our first stop was Sanur for 3 nights at Diwangkara Holiday Inn.
The gorgeous gardens at Diwangkara.
Breakfast at our hotel was great…particularly the pancake corner 🙂
Reassuring sign to see…
You can get married in a giant blue diamond by the ocean in Sanur haha!
Beachside restaurants.
This ability will never cease to amaze me!
Beautiful doors everywhere in Bali.
Some refreshing beverages.
Bali footpaths leave a lot to be desired.
Chillin’ on his bike…
My mini ‘Transport in Bali’ series…
The more on the bike the better right?
Post ceremony side saddle.
There’s nothing you can’t carry on a moped…
I’ll leave you today with this lovely scene 🙂 
Phuket – Surin Beach
Welcome to paradise!
We stayed at Surin Beach in Phuket and it was simply amazing. Great beaches, delicious food and fantastic weather!
The local fruit stall.
Yummy vegetarian spring rolls.
What better place for an afternoon nap.
A lovely beachside bar.
Early morning at Salt on Surin Beach.
We stayed at Surintra Boutique Inn which was very nice.
A little bird having a bath.
Before the crowds arrive for the day.
Beautiful Surin Beach.
A day on the beach under an umbrella – pure bliss.
Job listing Thai style.
Chiang Mai
After the hectic vibe of Bangkok it was lovely to change when we arrived in Chiang Mai. We stayed at the wonderful Galare Guesthouse. With lovely gardens, big verandahs and a fantastic restaurant it was the perfect place to relax. 
It was lovely being able to sit in the garden by the river while eating at the great restaurant at our hotel.
Cute little cafe in Chiang Mai.
Beer truck!
Minding the store…
Chang in Chiang Mai.
We dedicated our stay in Chiang Mai to food!
On our way to our first cooking class with Thai Farm Cooking School.
Safety first!
Our lovely teacher 🙂
Learning all about the rice varieties.
Sweet eggplants.
Coconut!
Veges at the market.
Chiang Mai cab.
Delicious ingredients.
Vegetable soup.
Tasty noodle dish that I cooked.
Chillies and my thai green curry paste.
Another visit to the local markets.
At the markets we spotted these pink eggs. Our cooking teacher explained that they’re duck eggs which are soaked in horse urine for 3 months until the inside turns black and jelly textured. Why you ask? Thai people believe eating these makes you live longer. I’m not sure I’d ever get through enough of it to get the benefits!
Funny signs at our second cooking class.
Trays of ingredients.
Making our curry pastes.
Penang curry paste.
Massaman curry, fried rice and pad thai – YUM!
We came away from the two cooking classes with some fantastic recipes! I can absolutely recommend Thai Farm Cooking School to anyone who visits Chiang Mai 🙂
Bangkok
Next stop – Thailand! When we arrived in Bangkok we were very eager to dig into some amazing Thai food and experience the renowned hustle and bustle of the Thai capital.
Not sure how safe this is…
Or this actually.
Restaurant on wheels – go where the business is!
Our hotel – Amber Boutique Silom.
We caught the local boat along the river to visit one of the temples.
I will never again say anything about the Brisbane River looking dirty!
It was obviously high tide when we got off the boat as this lady’s little shop was well and truly flooded.
Wat Pho.
The giant golden Buddha is so impressive.
It’s difficult to show in photos just how huge it is!
Young monks at Wat Pho.
Delicious grilled squid from a street vendor.
The fruit stalls everywhere are great. Pomegranate juice and dragonfruit are my new favourites!
Typical Bangkok scene – busy, dirty, crazy and somehow endearing.
The tiniest McDonald’s ever?
We went searching far and wide for the best street food in Bangkok and were lucky enough to have an amazing street only 5 minutes walk from our hotel in Silom. We tried almost every place on the street at least once.
Our fave street food vendor!
Yummy seafood pad thai and chicken panang.
On Saturday we paid a visit to the famous Chatuchak Markets. It was insanely busy and already 40 degrees by about 9:30am so our shopping didn’t last that long. You simply can’t believe how big this market is unless you see it for yourself. It covers over 35 acres!
There’s something for everyone at Chatuchak Markets! There’s food…
…and feather dusters…
…flowers and knives…
 …and a lovely cafe to escape from the heat!
Hong Kong
Welcome to Hong Kong!
The trains look as though they go on forever…
Apartments in Hong Kong
Masses of people crossing the street.
Fruit and vege markets.
This lady was just pulling along these boxes in the middle of the road in peak hour traffic…
A fancy foyer.
A typical main street in central Hong Kong.
We bought Andrew’s niece a little asian dress and the lady was very keen to demonstrate that it wasn’t flammable. 
Night market.
The way the buildings are lit up at night is very impressive.
Double deck trams!
Hong Kong LOVES malls…
Ngong Ping 360 cable car ride.
Climbing the stairs to the big Buddha.
Because they wouldn’t want you having too much fun…
The selfie master in his fancy suit.
A water buffalo just wandering the streets.
Giant incense sticks. You can’t see it in this shot but they were as tall as me!
The incense haze.
Cable cars over the water.
More hustle and bustle on Hong Kong streets.
One of the many sights on this trip that has made me want to be a vegetarian.
Locals at the market.
Roses from the flower market.
A guy randomly walking along the street with his macaw.
Hong Kong street food near the night market.
Athens
Hello Greece! It was a short and sweet visit for us with only 2 days to explore Athens but it was definitely worth it, even if only for the amazing food!
Oh and this view…
Part of the Acropolis.
Dakos salad….sooooo good.
There was some seriously cool street art in Athens.
The place we stayed had a great balcony overlooking a pedestrian street lined with cafes.
More cool street art.
Spice shop.
Take a close look at just how much garlic is in this photo!
Seems like you wouldn’t want to leave your car anywhere too long in Athens.
Meat and garlic hanging from the ceiling….why not?
Fun shoes!
Why do they make the coolest kids clothes?! I want these in my size!
Cafe lined streets in the city centre.
The meat market was really upsetting…but I guess this is reality we have to face if we want to eat meat.
Gorgeous Greek architecture.
Look like this fat cat has had a few too many gyros.
This marks the end of our time in Europe sadly. Next up ASIA!
Venice
While staying in Milan we took a day trip to Venice. We had originally planned to stay in Venice but the price of accommodation wasn’t within our budget. Venice was wonderful to go and see but in the end we’re actually very happy we didn’t stay there. It’s very beautiful and the waterways are a novelty but mostly we found it to be a tourist theme park. Having said that we did have a lovely day (albeit very long!) and I got some shots that I think show why people are so enchanted with Venice.
Gondola parking.
You would want to be careful hanging out your clothes here!
An art exhibit we stumbled across.
Watch your head!
I couldn’t get enough of the views from all the little bridges.
Andrew and the giant stovetop expresso.
A great door down a great street.
No Hills Hoists in Venice!
Autumn vines.
I love cookies!
A rare moment of quiet in Venice with no one in sight.
Canal peak hour.
Classic Venice
Milan
Milan…one of the fashion capitals of the world. And you can tell!
I was constantly impressed in Europe by how glamorous the woman manage to look while riding bicycles.
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. One of the worlds oldest shopping malls, opened in 1877.
Placing your heal on the genitals of the bull on this Turin coat of arms and spinning 3 times is said to bring good luck. The number of people doing this has caused significant damage to the tiling and there is now a hole in place of the bulls genitals.
Matching camo pants…this couple clearly didn’t call each other to find out what the other was wearing today!
Old school Milan tram.
The Duomo.
Amazing vine covered apartment block.
The Imaginarium has a special kid sized door!!
I think this is such a good ad.
An amazing sculpture outside a church in Milan.
Beautiful autumn leaves in Sempione Park.
I want her bike!
Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre is probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen! I’d return in a heartbeat. We spent a wonderful week staying in Monterosso Al Mare and exploring the other 4 towns.
The view from our apartment.
The tunnel that links the old town and the new town of Monterosso.
Monterosso shops and cafes.
Beautiful interior of one of the churches in Monterosso.
Monterosso is the only one of the 5 towns that has a sand beach.
Dining with your feet in the sand is pretty unbeatable.
During our stay we did the coastal hike from Monterosso, through Vernazza to Corniglia. The last part of the trail was still closed due to the flood they had in 2011.
The view of Monterosso from the start of the trail.
Our first view of Vernazza.
Arriving in Vernazza.
Vernazza is said to be the most picturesque of the 5 towns and is therefore definitely the most crowded.
But you can certainly understand why it has earned that reputation!
We stopped for an orange juice / coffee at this fantastic cafe over looking Vernazza.
Our first view of Corniglia.
People enjoying a meal after their hike and the 382 steps you must climb (or descend in our case, thank goodness) to go between the town and the train station.
The town off in the distance that you can see is Monterosso so it was a reasonable hike (and very enjoyable!).
After that hike I think we deserve a beer and a big feed of seafood pasta!
We spent the afternoon and evening in Riomaggiore which is really gorgeous.
The colour of the setting sun was amazing.
Not a bad view to go with dinner.
And last but not least we visited Manarola.
Laughing at how impossible it is to get a good photo of me!
We had a fantastic dinner (more seafood pasta!) and enjoyed another gorgeous sunset.
Sadly it was time to say goodbye to Cinque Terre…
A Journey Captured 
