The Gili Islands

Off the north-west coast of Lombok, the Gili islands were the perfect place to relax. There are no motorised vehicles on the islands, which thankfully keeps the pace of life pretty laid back. There are also no police. One morning we witnessed a local madman chasing some kids down the beach with a stick - the villagers quickly captured him and tied him to a tree for his sins. Care in the community indeed.

Lombok

On Lombok we climbed Mount Rinjani, a volcanic mountain and the second highest peak in Indonesia. At the end of the first day of hiking we camped above the cloud layer.

It got so cold during the night that even in a sleeping bag wearing a t-shirt, jumper and woolly hat I was still shivering.

The photos really can't do this justice - the mountain forms an enormous crater around the inner volcanic peak. At the bottom of the crater is a vast lake, and some hot springs which we bathed in.

Bali

Kuta, the main resort on Bali and site of the 2002 and 2005 bombings, is a hellhole of a place with a McDonalds or KFC on almost every corner. We only spent one night there, watching the world cup with a bunch of pissed-up Australians.

Kuala Lumpur

Our first stop was Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia; we only stopped over for a couple of nights before catching an onward flight. On our first night there we stayed with a local architect called "JC", who advertised his spare room on Couchsurfing.com.

This was as close as we got to the famous Petronas Towers, but I've vowed to visit them and see the view from the top when we're next in KL.

Killing time at the airport once again - such a hard life.

Back in Bangkok

Eventually, the rainy season hit the coast of Cambodia, the stormy winds starting ripping the roof off the bar, and the torrential downpours flushed most of the tourists out of town. It was time to leave so I caught a bus back to Bangkok with my friend Al, who also worked in Sihanoukville for a few months.