Planning: Phuket, Thailand

Departing Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday, the 8th of July, 2011 to go to Phuket, Thailand to meet up with a few friends from home for a birthday get together.

Should be very interesting, they're staying at the Graceland Resort & Spa on the northern end of Patong Beach. It was a little out of my budget range, so Jarrad and I have found a place in the middle of Patong Beach called the Patong Beach Lodge around about 100m from the beachfront.

I found this hotel simply by searching accommodation on google maps in the areas surrounding the resort that my friends are staying in. Our Hotel has a pool, a spa and an outdoor bar. It also has free internet access which is a really attractive feature for a budget traveller wanting to keep in touch with friends and family, as well as to research things to do around town.

Patong Beach Lodge is a three star hotel, which im hoping will far surpass the quality of the one star hotel we will be staying in while were in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Some of the activities i am looking at getting involved in include canoeing through the Phang Nga Bay Caves and some snorkelling and plenty of relaxation.

I think when i picked up my first travel guide to South East Asia, it was the caves and hongs of Phang Nga Bay & the breathtaking scenery that is Ha Long Bay, Vietnam were the two things that really got me excited about travelling through the oriental countries.

Spending an entire week here will be incredible, and I'm sure that there will be no shortage of things to do, whether that be during that day sightseeing or at night immersing myself in Patong Beaches renowned nightlife.

Planning: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Flying out from Melbourne, Australia on the 5th of July, 2011 with Air Asia. A friend put me onto them because of their low fare prices, he warned me that the flight maybe a little uncomfortable, and the meals a little bit poor.... but really, at the price i got this flight for, I'm not going to be expecting much at all.

On arrival in Kuala Lumpur at the LCCT Airport, south of the city, i will most probably look at Jumping onto the Sky Bus to get me into the city and finding my way to my hotel for the first few nights.

I will be staying at The Orange Hotel, in the heart of China Town, the rooms on the website looked quite comforting, a little small, but again, for the price, im not expecting to stay anywhere amazing

Their website pictures, of course looked great, the description was great and the reviews linked to the site, were of course great. So I've booked it for $10.00AUD/ night, further reading into it and apparently the place is a bit of a disgrace.

Ill quote a small section of a lengthy review on www.tripadvisor.com:

"We accidentally booked into this filthy dump of a hotel with the rudest unfriendly staff i have ever had the misfortune to meet"

In reading that, and a few others of the like, i am a little worried that it is going to be an absolute filthy hole and i am not going to stay there. There were a few reviews contrary to this, saying that they did have a pleasant stay, that it was clean.....ish and that the people running the hotel were polite and welcoming.

It's only a three night stint, how bad can it be ?

And its not like i will be spending every second of my three nights there. I have looked into a few day trips, one that particularly caught my fancy was a visit to an Elephant conservation farm in Kuala Gandah, which is about the 30 minute drive from the KL Sentral.

Generally meandering the streets is something that i look forward to, exploring the parks and buildings in the city, seeing the Petronas Towers and visiting their famous Bird Park.

Ill be meeting with my good friend Jarrad in during my time in Kuala Lumpur and setting off for Phuket, Thailand together.