6 Months Travelling – Backpacking In South East Asia Highlights

Cambodia Motorbikes Selfie 6 Months
Our first photo after crossing the border into Cambodia with our bikes. We didn’t expect to end up here with our own motorcycles!

6 Months Travelling in South East Asia – An Epic Adventure

6 months ago we left Australia to embark on our latest adventure – to travel overland from Thailand to South Africa without using any air transportation. Long-term travel is nothing new to us. We have been backpacking for the better part of our (almost) 6 years together. However this is the most ambitious mission we have undertaken and we have a long way to go.

We started our trip with a quick layover in Singapore before we took our final flight to Phuket, Thailand. Looking back at our original time schedule, we thought we would be crossing Tibet right now, heading for Nepal. Instead we are still in SE Asia. We have fallen in love with this region and our typical slow style of travel has meant we are taking our time in exploring every place as thoroughly as possible. We’ve managed to travel over 12’000 kilometres so far without flying, and still have so much more to see!

We have seen and done a lot during our first 6 months on the road. We’ve completed some specialised diving courses. Learnt parts of five different languages. We survived a bus crash in Myanmar and got to watch the sun rise over the temples of Bagan. We spontaneously bought motorbikes in Laos and have since ridden over 4500km on them in three different countries.

Our website, NOMADasaurus, has been steadily growing day by day and has proven to be bigger challenge than we thought – however we are enjoying this project immensely and look forward to seeing where it will go in the future. Jazza has started working for South East Asia Backpacker as an ambassador and recently won a travel writing scholarship with World Nomads. Lesh’s photography skills have improved immensely and she has been gaining more and more recognition from some of her amazing shots.

Most of all we have made some amazing friends in the last 6 months. People we have shared incredible experiences with and who will remain friends for life.

Here are a few photos documenting some of our favourite and defining moments over the last 6 months. We can’t wait to see what the next 6 months will bring. Thanks for following along on our adventures!

Flying Into Phuket. 6 Months
Touching down in Phuket – our final flight until we reach South Africa.
Singapore Jumping 6 Months.
Celebrating being in Singapore.
Private Beach Kayak Thailand Ton Sai 6 Months
The time we kayaked to our own private beach in Ton Sai, Thailand
Rescue Diver Koh Tao Thailand 6 Months
The crew from our rescue diver course in Koh Tao, Thailand
Kayak Khao Sok National Park 6 Months
Kayaking in our epic floating lake house tour in Khao Sok National Park.
Vipassana Meditation Chiang Mai Thailand 6 Months
Lesh just before her 6 day Vipassana meditation course in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Mae Hong Son Motorcycle Loop 6 Months
Riding along the Mae Hong Son loop in Northern Thailand – The ride that made us begin to contemplate getting our own motorbikes for the rest of our SE Asia adventure.
Elephants In Pai Thailand 6 Months
Lesh falling in love with elephants at Thom’s Elephant Camp in Pai, Thailand
Bus Crash Myanmar 6 Months
That time our bus didn’t quite make it to our destination in Myanmar.
Shwedagon Pagoda Yangon Myanmar 6 Months
But when we did finally make it to Yangon, the trauma of the crash was worth it just to see the Shwedagon Pagoda.
Bagan Temples Myanmar 6 Months
The temples of Bagan in Myanmar. A bucket list item for us.
Teaching English Monastery Mandalay Myanmar 6 Months.
The day we were invited by a monk to his monastery to teach English to his students in Mandalay, Myanmar. One of our favourite days.
Slow Boat Thailand To Luang Prabang Laos 6 Months
Arriving in Luang Prabang after taking the slow boat from Thailand to Laos.
Motorcycle Adventure South East Asia 6 Months
The biggest defining moment of our trip – The day we bought our motorcycles to adventure around SE Asia.
Tubing Vang Vieng Laos 6 Months
Tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos. A day full of debauchery and mayhem.
Motorcycle Adventure Thakhek Loop Laos 6 Months.
The most difficult road we’ve tackled so far on this trip. Part of the Thakhek Loop in Laos.
Canyoning Dalat Vietnam
Canyoning in Dalat, Vietnam. One of the funnest days we have had in SE Asia…So far…
50Th Dive Nha Trang Vietnam 6 Months
A selfie from our 50th dive in Nha Trang, Vietnam. A small little milestone for one of our biggest passions.
Traffic Laos Buffaloes 6 Months
Typical traffic in Laos – Buffaloes hogging the road.
Traffic Ho Chi Minh City Motorcycles Vietnam 6 Months
The traffic in Ho Chi Minh City is unfortunately a hell of a lot crazier than just dealing with buffaloes.
Leopard Shark Thailand 6 Months
Our most memorable moment – Having this leopard shark in the Andaman Sea named after us by the University of Queensland. Meet ‘NOMADasaurus’ – the sexiest, most intelligent shark in all the seas!
Sunrise Mekong River Vietnam
A sunrise on the Mekong River. Representing the beginning of the next 6 months for us.

Thanks so much for following us on these adventures. We have some exciting plans for the next 6 months and some big news on some new projects and partnerships coming soon. Help us spread the word of NOMADasaurus through our social media platforms and please get in contact if there is anything you would like to see on here or if you have an idea or story to contribute. Happy travels everyone!

About the Author - Alesha and Jarryd

Hey! We are Alesha and Jarryd, the award-winning writers and professional photographers behind this blog. We have been travelling the world together since 2008, with a passion for adventure travel and sustainable tourism. Through our stories and images we promote exciting off-the-beaten-path destinations and fascinating cultures as we go. As one of the world's leading travel journalists, our content and adventures have been featured by National Geographic, Lonely Planet, CNN, BBC, Forbes, Business Insider, Washington Post, Yahoo!, BuzzFeed, Channel 7, Channel 10, ABC, The Guardian, and plenty other publications. Follow our journey in real time on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

24 thoughts on “6 Months Travelling – Backpacking In South East Asia Highlights”

  1. Love your blog and pictures. 6 months and going. Keep it up, break a leg.

    • Thanks guys! We’re closing in on two years now 😉

  2. As someone whose been in SE Asia for about the same amount of time I loved reading this post. Great to see you guys riding around on the motorbikes as well. Definitely my favourite way to travel. We went tubing on Christmas day and never thought I was going to have as much fun as I did.

  3. You guys are so inspiring! Your photos are wonderful and the sheer fact that nothing seems to get in your way really does set a wonderful standard for a great way to see the world! I’m just starting out on my very first solo trip around South East Asia – I’m sure there’s so much advice to give and moments to share but I was wondering if I could trouble you for a few tips? If we end up in the same country perchance, I’ll shout you a beer for sure!

  4. You guys are such an inspiration to me. 6 months of the road is a great milestone. Look at your photos – so amazing and they bring back some memories from the road. Wishing you all the best and never stop exploring this world!!

    • Oh shucks, Agness. You’re an inspiration to us as well! It was a fun 6 months, and only another 3 months to go to hit the year mark on this trip. Hopefully our paths cross when we make it to Europe next year. Thanks for reading.

  5. It looks like you have have quite the adventure. Keep it up and safe travels!

    • Thanks Elaine. So far it has been a lot of fun!

  6. Brilliant now bring on the next 6 months…

    • And the 6 months after that. And the months after that. And so on, and so on. Thanks for reading Mark and Kate. 😀

  7. Looks like an amazing trip, you must visit South Asia Specially Northern Area of Pakistan

    Regards

    • Would love to visit Pakistan, but we can’t get a visa on the road. We have to apply from our home country, which won’t happen for us as we aren’t planning on going home. Hopefully they change the visa laws so we can check out Northern Pakistan. Thanks for reading, Wasi. =)

  8. Sounds like you are off to an awesome adventure so far!! What routing are you planning on taking to get all the way to South Africa? Have you been before? Its one of my favourite countries! Sounds epic! 🙂

    • So far it has been epic! We’re planning on cutting across China, into Central Asia (the ‘Stans), then Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey. From there we’re not sure how we’ll get to Africa, but we want to follow Central/Eastern Africa to Cape Town. Haven’t been before, but really excited about getting there!

  9. Looks like an amazing trip – that is such a beautiful part of the world! Love your blog’s name 🙂

    • It has been pretty amazing so far. We love South East Asia – been here over 8 months now and still planning on being here a while longer. Glad to hear you like our name as well. Thanks for reading Katie.

  10. Sounds so thrilling! I’m amazed to see both of you traveling on bikes. That’s super crazy and super fun.:) Keep traveling and keep bringing on great stories from the road.

    • Thanks so much Renuka. We were pretty amazed ourselves to see us riding bikes. Was pretty unexpected. Cheers for following along.

  11. Wow! Can’t believe it’s really been six months!! What an amazing journey so far. Looking forward to more stories from you guys and loving the pictures Lesh! Miss yas xxoo

    • Cheers Kasse. The 6 months has flown by. We’ve had a lot of fun, that’s for sure. Thanks for following along, and Lesh’s head is growing larger and larger every day 😉

    • Thanks very much Shaun.

  12. Wow I’m so jealous of you guys! You really are living the dream! A leopard shark named after you? Congrats! Really love this post, it’s so inspiring

    • Thanks so much Laura. I guess we really are living the dream. We have to admit finding out about that leopard shark was a huge highlight for us. So unexpected, and not everyone you meet has had that happen to them. Thanks for checking this post out. =)

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