Southern Thailand by Instagram

Instagram is brilliant. Unlike other social networks, there’s none of that need to actually pay attention to what people are saying, or doing, or listening to. Instead, you can just gawp at the snapshots of their lives (or, their cups of coffee), and be transported to a world of wonder.

I love the way I can follow folks from all over the world, and have a window into what’s happening in countless locations. And, of course, I love letting people have a peep at what’s been going on around me as I travel.

Our trip to Thailand was no different – I shared a whole host of shots on Instagram from that trip that i worry you may have missed. Well, I need worry no more. After the success of my Northern Thailand by Instagram post, I figured the southern half of the country deserved it’s time in the sun. Speaking of which, as this is the part of Thailand which is home to incredible beaches, don’t be astonished to see the odd sunset picture below. Let’s get on with the tour!

After our hectic trip around Northern Thailand, we took a bit of time out and chilled in the beach town of Hua Hin, around 150km south of Bangkok. Naturally, this meant we spent a lot of time on the beach!

We actually had the choice of two beaches at Hua Hin. On one of them we found this rather interesting sand sculpture!

And of course, we witnessed some spectacular sunsets and sunrises! This is the latter, a rare sunrise shot (I’m not normally up early enough!)

After Hua Hin we headed down to Khao Sok national park, which is famous for its gorgeous lake (see below) and fabulous jungle. Jungle, in this case, meaning leeches. The above is my leg, after tangling with a leech. This one was a victory to the leeches I think.

When not battling leeches, Khao Sok is remarkably pretty. This was the view from our rafthouse on the lake.

After Khao Sok it was down to Nakhon Si Thammarat, where we spent a few days soaking in the local vibe, and visiting the temples.

The south of Thailand is much more Muslim influenced than the north, and it isn’t long before mosques start to pop up with as much regularity as normal temples. Which in Thailand, is quite a lot.

From Nakhon Si Thammarat we went across to the west coast of southern Thailand – the famous Andaman coastline. We based ourselves in the Trang region for a few days and spent some time enjoying gorgeous views like this, and the first picture in this post.

From Trang we headed even further south, via a four hour bus journey, to the town of Satun. This is about as far as you can go on Thailand’s south west coast before crossing into Malaysia. The vibe in this town was very Muslim, with regular prayer calls providing the soundtrack. Although, of course, the Buddha could still be found presiding!

No, we didn’t take a detour to Copenhagen! Beyond Satun we headed back across the east coast again, and visited the town of Songkhla, home to this rather spectacular mermaid statue.

The mermaid wasn’t the only statue in town. Songkhla was also home to this duo, the cat and mouse, who represent the islands in the bay, Cat and Mouse Islands.

Songkhla had an absolutely fantastic stretch of beach to explore, upon which we came across all kinds of interesting debris which had been washed ashore. This giant light bulb really intrigued me with it’s reflective properties – and the above shot was a real challenge to get!

Songkhla is also home to this Royal pavilion, which can be found on the main hill overlooking the town.

It turns out Songkhla was rather photogenic! This is the old town at sunset.

Moving north now, and this is the northern end of the Andaman coast – the 10km long Thai Mueang beach. There’s not much here other than a beach and a couple of restaurants – in fact the bus driver was a bit concerned about us getting off here, but I think you’ll agree, the deserted beach was worth it!

We spent my birthday wandering around old Phuket town, where we discovered all sorts of charming streets and shops. This piece of street art was absolutely stunning.

From Phuket we took a day trip to visit James Bond island in Phang Nga bay, as well as do some canoeing in the sea caves. The water was an incredible shade of green!

And then, we were nearly done with the holiday! Here Vera tackles the futuristic malls of Bangkok

And then.. sadly.. our incredible three month adventure was over, and it was time to leave. Ah well. I’m sure we’ll be back!

I hope you enjoyed this look back at some of our favourite Instagram moments of southern Thailand. If you want to follow me on Instagram, you’ll find me as @Lozula!

This article originally appeared on travel and photography blog http://www.findingtheuniverse.com/, and was written by Laurence Norah. Please contact Laurence for re-use of text or images.