Intrepid STA Explorer Isla has given Chiang Mai the once over and is quite a fan,

“Chiang Mai’s old city is surrounded by a moat and many of the streets are quite twisty and narrow so it’s all very olde worlde and I like it a lot.”

Now with over 300 odd temples, the risk of ‘temple fatigue’ as Isla called it was high, so opted for the forest temple Wat Umong and Wat Suan Dok, which is where the ashes of the Chiang Mai royal family are held.

After this there was time to jump into a graduate art exhibition before heading to what Isla describes as one of her favourite things in the city – Museum of World Insects and Natural Wonders,

“At 300 Baht, the entry fee seemed a bit steep. But it was quirky and brilliant. Wonderful, you could say […] and there are cases and cases of mosquitoes. Imagine that: 1) catching a mosquito and 2) preserving and cataloguing them.”

There was more to be done in Chang Mai, and Isla as ever was ready to get involved. It’s all in her post; most notable maybe is the Flight of the Gibbon…

Isla’s having fun and games. With a tour guide named Rambo and deep fried spider firmly planted on the menu, amidst ‘hilarious’ near-death experiences and a swathe of injuries to her touring party, she has found herself indulging in some rather splendid jungle-based antics.

“After about an hour and a half we jumped out at a river, changed into swimwear in the woods and stepped onto some bamboo rafts. Most fun I’ve had in a while”.

Some things never change though, and after her recent ‘Earn your Stripes’ escapades with Romy, it is no surprise that thoughts turned to the old firewater, and moreover the repetitive consumption of it.

“So what do you do to entertain yourself in a village in the middle of the jungle where there’s no electricity? Play drinking games of course. Beer was the only booze available but I soldiered through and I think I may have developed a taste for Chang.”

Me too Isla, me too.

Just a quick itinerary update on former Earn Your Striper Isla.

Now as our Teacher on Sabbatical she is off to Bangkok. Currently in Alice Springs her schedule is pretty hectic…

“Friday 1030 – bus to Adelaide
Saturday 0635 – arrive in Adelaide
Saturday 2015 – bus to Melbourne
Sunday 0645 – arrive in Melbourne
Sunday 2000 – bus to Sydney
Monday 0810 – arrive in Sydney
Monday 1635 – flight to Bangkok
Monday 2255 – arrive in Bangkok”

I suggest if you have any queries about air travel in the southern hemisphere… ask Isla now!

Former ‘Earn your Striper’ and current STA Explorer Isla is continuing her trek across antipodean climes and has just recently stopped in at Alice Springs – and ‘it’s a lovely 22 degrees’. Jealous already?

Well it gets worse as she paints a vivid picture of her experiences taking to the desert on a mechanical horse – or quad bike for the uninitiated.

“As the sun was setting, we returned to the homestead. Driving into the sun, you could just see this massive glowing ball above all this off-white dust. It actually resembled mist. And in amongst it you could see the silhouettes of the other riders, travelling across the red earth.”

There’s a slideshow over on her blog, or here’s a picture of Isla looking absolutely resplendent on her steed of choice.

And in taking the said walk on the wild side Isla poses a few questions for her discerning readers in her latest update.

There are three questions, the answer to each being slightly more surprising than one may initially think. As a bench mark, young Matthew, who you will find in the hallowed halls of STA Travelbuzz’s about section, floundered on all fronts scoring a shocking zero. He even suggested Koala’s as the answer to,

“Q. 2 What animal is most likely to kill you in Australia?”

I think he was joking as this arrived in the wake of more sensible, yet inaccurate, attempts to answer wisely.

Anyway the mini-pop quiz is accompanied by two YouTube vids of that ‘oh-so-dangerous species’ koala (thanks Matt) and the art of wallaby feeding performed by Isla herself.

Also there is a slide show of these images documenting the Earn Your Stripes challenge of snapping wildlife, including dinosaurs.

All in all it’s great stuff. Head over and enjoy (and yes this post title prompted a Lou reed and Tribe Called Quest playlist for Friday afternoon).

Isla has been getting the good stuff in terms of insider knowledge, this time on art. How did she come by such nuggets of information? She hooked up with a local of course, one Lauren Brown, an installation artist extraordinaire.

To her it seems that Melbourne is brimming with creativity,

“There is art and design everywhere in Melbourne. You could argue that about most places though, I guess. But just take a walk through Melbourne and you see all sorts…”

Isla makes note of the bells at Birrarung Marr which, she informs us, were designed by her current boss’ wife. That really is insider knowledge! To see what else she has found click through and have a peek.

Earn Your Stripes Isla has had an alcohol based brush with the law, but fortunately it was only a brush. It also involved a venue named the Knight’s Inn and an Austrian’s van – it belonged to a man called Flo.

“I thought Flo was actually staying at the hostel but he’s just sleeping in his van. We went to the beach so he could use the shower. I don’t know why he didn’t just use the one at the hostel.”

There’s also been updates on insider knowledge of Perth and attractive women (that Isla believes to be false), a particularly pleasant flight with Tiger Airlines, realisation that she was in a romantic mood and the creation of a slideshow illustrating a day in her life!

Isla, at STAtravelbuzz, we’re a little bit in love with you…