I now find myself out in western Victoria in Grampians National Park. Grampians got hit really hard by bush fires this past year and as a result a huge swath of the park is closed. Several of the trails I wanted to do are off limits due to the fire damage. Luckily, enough of the park is still open to make it worthwhile. Driving here from the coast I saw a lot of these signs. I have a good feeling…
I made it out of Melbourne and made my way southwest to my next official stop, Great Otway National Park. I took the long way here by making a huge loop around to the northwest so I could go visit Trentham Falls, but it turned out to just be a trickle, about a one on the gusher scale, and not really worth the effort. Oh well! From there it was due south for the rest of the day. My route…
Greetings from my latest adventure Down Under! That’s right, not only am I visiting the next country on my list, Australia (just in case you didn’t figure that out), but I’m also adding another continent to my tally. So let’s dive right in, since that’s pretty much what I had to do. After flying twentyish hours across the Pacific, my flight arrived into Melbourne at 8am. Which meant I had to try and stay awake all day so I could…
South from Khao Sok National Park is Phang Nga Province. Phang Nga is a really quick stop for me, but it was jam packed with some really awesome sites. Lucky for me there were a ton of waterfalls to stop at along my route on highway 4, so I had a waterfallapalooza on my way to the next hotel. First up was Sai Rung. The main tourist season is obviously kicking in and this southern part of Thailand is the…
I had a pretty long drive south from Hua Hin, about seven hours. It was pouring rain again when I left and it rained pretty much all day. Getting a break from the heat is nice, but exploring in the rain is much more difficult. A little over half way on my drive I made a quick stop at Ngao Waterfall, near Ranong. It was still raining quite a bit, but it wasn’t a very long walk so I grabbed…
Hua Hin is just a short little hop south from Phetchaburi, but it’s a much bigger town. There’s lots of traffic, lots of tourists, and lots of bars. That’s ok, though, because I’m not going to be spending much time in the city. Everything I came to see lies outside the city. It is nice to have a larger variety of restaurants though. There’s an amazing vegetarian cafe a couple of doors down from my hotel and I was able…
Welcome to the Thong Pha Phum district in Kanchanaburi province. I had researched this region when I was planning this trip, but didn’t include it on my original itinerary because I didn’t have time. I had to cut something. But with the extra days I acquired thanks to all the flooding at the beginning of this trip, I decided to put Kanchanaburi back on the menu and spend a few days exploring this remote part of Thailand. Off we go!…
From Khorat it’s just a short distance west to what is considered one of Thailand’s premier national parks, Khoa Yai. I think the name of the village where I’m staying is Mu Si, but everyone just refers to this whole area as Khao Yai. This is where the people of Bangkok come for rest and relaxation. There are tons and tons of really fancy resorts, big restaurants, and for some reason, go kart tracks all over the place. From my…
After zig zagging all over the Khmer temples to the northwest, I finally arrived at Ubon Ratchathani, the eastern most stop I’ll be making on this trip. Ubon Ratchathani, is like some of my other stops, just a very convenient and pleasant place to stay while I explore the area. I did of course take a day to explore the city, though. Thung Sri Mueng, seen above is pretty much the center of the city. It seems a bit out…
From Udon Thani it’s just a short drive south to another important northeastern Thailand city, Khon Kaen. I’ll have to turn in my rental car when I arrive and pick up another rental car when I leave (long story), so I’m going to spend the day seeing a few out of the way sites before losing the car and checking in at my hotel. I started with a cruise through Phu Wiang National Park and a quick hike to the…