Asia and Australia

Mango Bar – Koh Tao

So I went off on a rather long holiday this year. Japan, Tasmania and Northern Territory of Australia and Thailand. It was incredible. Even if you could only make a couple of weeks over that way it would be well worth it. I was away for a couple of months and only took a 25L rucksack. For want of not exceeding carry on luggage weights and avoiding the need to check in bags, I took VERY little with me.

So, for the reason of space and weight, I went off with my Canon Powershot G15. I love that camera. You can still go full manual if you want to and it will easily fit in a large pocket or small bag. I used a Kiwifotos filter adaptor tube so that I could use a circular polariser. Although this came off in Thailand to make it less ‘fancy’ looking. Someone also gave me a handy tip; if you have a more expensive or larger camera, put masking tape on it to make it appear damaged and less attractive to thieves.

I bought a PacSafe handbag and rucksack. Both of which can’t have either their straps or the bag cut through. I spotted the metal mesh which is set inside the fabric on an airport scanner. So, felt quite comfortable knowing my things were safe when riding motor bikes or walking down the street. I would recommend PacSafe products for sure, I wonder if they do a specific camera bag?

Not a Pacsafe  Not a PacSafe Bag

Somewhere along the line, I ended up with a fresh scratch on my lens. I was already having trouble with focus and light spots now and again from the first scratch gained on a trip to America last year, compromising the image quality. The camera then got rather soaked through, entirely soaked, everywhere, with sweat. The Tiger Temple in Krabi has a temple up 1500 steps. I say steps, some of them were over a foot in height. At midday in 32C with only half a litre of water left between us, the view at 250 was good enough for me!

So, my boyfriend took the mammoth task with my camera in tow to reach the very top. Whilst he wanted to give up, he was determined to get up there and take photos for me just so that I could see the view from up there. After dodging the angry monkey protecting it’s baby, which was in a bin and attacking people going past, he finally reached the top. Apparently, monks offer cool water to people on arrival. I think they should build a giant slide down the hill side to get back down again. By the time he reached me again, he and the camera were drenched in sweat. The camera went haywire and stopped working, sweat in every nook and cranny going! So off to the shops for a bag of rice we went.

My trusty Canon G15’s display doesn’t work now. But for all it went through and captured on the adventure, it is worth it. I even got my view from the top of the Tiger Temple! And besides, perhaps it’s lucky it got that far in the first place. So with hundreds of photos to get through, I plan on posting some which are less like holiday snaps to justyourcupofchi.com soon!

View from the top! Tiger Temple Krabi