400 Day Summary!
In the last 100 days we have visited 13 more countries, slept in 47 more beds, taken 22 flights, 9 boats, 12 trains, 19 buses, 13 car rides and tried 59 different wines.
We used Thailand as our base to explore Southeast Asia and came back many times. We thoroughly enjoyed Bangkok, found the perfect hostel and checked out the main sights. We also traveled to nearby Kanchanaburi for some WWII history, before heading south to Full Moon Party capital Ko Phagnan. We quickly escaped the scene and found the perfect beach hut on nearby Ko Samui. Our last stop was Krabi, from where we island hopped to some postcard perfect beaches.
Our time in Penang, Malaysia with our friend Valdrin was great, especially weaving through crazy traffic on our scooters. Cameron Highlands had a ton to offer: Honey Farms, Strawberry Plantations and a beautiful Tea Estate, just to mention a few, plus the mild climate made it a great getaway. KL was also our transit hub and we flew to Borneo-Sarawak from here. To really get out into the jungle, we took a propeller plane to the small town of Mulu in the rainforest of Borneo. We observed as millions of bats came flying out of one of the biggest caves in the world and the jungle trekking was superb.
We took full advantage of our month in Indonesia, came up close and personal with the Orangutans on Sumatra, climbed an active volcano near Berastagi and relaxed on Lake Toba. Once done with Sumatra, we relaxed by the pool in crazy Kuta, Bali. Our friend Colin joined our adventure and we continued on together to see the Komodo Dragons near Flores, snorkel some of the best reefs on quiet Gili Air and enjoy some local hospitality on Lombok.
Australia was absolutely amazing, especially staying with our friend Charnie in Perth. We rented a camper van and drove south to explore the beautiful Margaret River region, drank plenty of delicious wine and drove past some scenic parts of Western Australia. For Easter we headed north to Kalbarri, to enjoy the beach and great company. Even though it was a short getaway, it was one of the best times ever.
Our last country in Southeast were the Philippines. We spend a day wandering through Manilas Intramuros district, before getting out of the capital and flying south to Legazpi. We only glanced at the perfectly cone shaped volcano Mt. Mayon, and instead of climbing it, decided to park it on the beach for a week in Donsol. Here we enjoyed a nice vacation, swam with the gentle whale sharks and ate delicious food.
Taiwan was all about nature: Climbing ridge lines and peaks near Pingxi, riding the gondola up to a viewpoint of the city, hiking to the top of Mt. Qixing and many city trails kept us busy in Taipei. We escaped to some hot springs when it was cool, and laid on the beach when it was hot. Taiwan has it all!
We joined a military guided tour of the Joint Security Area, which allowed us to actually step over the border into North Korea. It was a unique spot and the tension could be felt between the South Korean and North Korean soldiers. Other stops included the last train station before the DMZ and an infiltration tunnel dug by the DPRK.