Uncategorized – Page 5 – Backpack Bradie

Laos

September 4, 2017April 9, 2018Posted in Uncategorized1 Comment

After the Vietnam post I’d imagine you probably don’t have the energy for another long one, so you are in luck! We were only in Laos for 6 days, only spending 1 full day in each town/city. It’s also a lot calmer than past countries and so there isn’t much to write about! Laos is almost a combination of Thailand and Cambodia. It has the quietness and tranquility of Cambodia combined with the more developed feel of Thailand.

Luang Prabang

We had decided to fly straight to Luang Prabang rather than get the 30-hour bus – reviews of this bus were horrific, they described bumpy, long, windy mountainous roads, often with no aircon and sometimes livestock were also being transported in the same vehicles – no thank you. Saying this, the flight over was no picnic either. Now I am an overconfident flyer, been doing it since before I can remember, but even I was a bit nervous on this flight, probably the only transport I didn’t sleep on the entire trip! The plane was a wee rickety thing with propellers, not only that but the whole time we were in the air we were also in the midst of a huge electrical storm. The turbulence was so bad they couldn’t serve any food or drink until the last 20 minutes of the flight! I’ll admit I was pretty happy when we landed!

We didn’t do much that evening, we were pretty shattered from Hanoi and so just ate, read some travel books at reception and went to bed. One weird thing did happen, however, just as we were getting out of the taxi at the hostel, one of my family friends from London walks by. Huge coincidence yes, but my mum had just climbed Mount Kenya with his mum AND my brother had just been on holiday with his brother – glad know my family (and his) talk about us so much!

FullSizeRender 25 — The picture me and Sam sent our mum’s after our surprise meet

The next day we got up quite early and went for a walk around the town and along the river. The whole of Luang Prabang is actually a UNESCO world heritage site. It has amazing temples and Buddha’s…. unfortunately I never want to see another temple in my life. In the afternoon we had booked a tour to go to the Kuang Si Falls and a sunset river cruise along the Mekong river.

Who doesn’t love a temple? – Me. I do not love temples.

The falls were beautiful and there are pools in which you can swim – warning, the water is freezing! At the entrance to the waterfalls, there is also a bear sanctuary, where bears that have been reduced from poaching or illegal trading are brought. It’s a good cause and the bears just looked so chilled in their hammocks and swings!

A real bear chilling in his hammock, and then Me and Nia posing with some fake ones

The stunning Kuang Si Falls, Luang Prabang

Despite its beauty and my happy demeanor, the water was baltic.

After the waterfall and a bit of confusion from our driver, we went on an hour cruise down the river. No one else had booked onto this tour, so not only did we have a private minivan up to the falls, we also had a private boat. The cruise wasn’t really something to write home about however, we didn’t even get to see the sunset! In hindsight, we should have just got a tuk-tuk to the falls (it would have been much cheaper) and then booked a dinner river cruise – these include a set menu of traditional Laotian food and Laotian dancers. After dinner, we went to an infamous bar in Luang Prabang called Utopia. Utopia is probably one of the most unique bars in South East Asia, although centrally located, it is hidden away along the Mekong river and consists of loads of cushions and lounges where you can just relax on the floor and have a drink and watch the sun go down. There is a strict curfew in Laos and all the bars shut around 11:30pm, there is only one place open after that – a bowling alley of all things. We never made it there just out of pure exhaustion, but I wish we had just for the experience.

Hostel: Vongprachan Backpackers Hostel – Good but basic hostel (they all are in Laos). Great central location and free breakfast, decent wifi and clean beds – all you need really! They also have an upstairs bit with a pool table and you can buy drinks out the fridge, it does shut at 11pm though. If I was to go back, I’d stay here again.

Vang Vieng

The next day we got the 9am bus to Vang Vieng. Now when you first google Vang Vieng, the first thing that comes up is about all of the tourist deaths due to the tubing – basically tourists who can’t handle their drinks and then get washed down the river. I can safely say it’s really not like that anymore – from the 12/13 bars that used to run along the river only 2 remain. The swings are gone and it’s a lot more controlled – bummer.

The bus was let’s say, less than ideal. It wasn’t one of the bus buses we were used to, it was a tiny, cramped minivan. Nia and I were the last to get in and so were stuck in the front row, Nia in the middle and me on an edge with no window or door so both of us were stuck sitting directly upright. Just to add to the uncomfortableness of the whole thing, the drive was through mountains, it was raining and foggy – you couldn’t see more than 2 feet in front of you. There were landslides happening at the sides of the road, not to mention the driver was also avoiding goats and water buffalo along the way.

When we (thankfully) arrived in Vang Vieng it was still raining. We checked in and headed straight out for some food – all of the restaurants had pillows and loungers so we stayed there for quite some time. Vang Vieng is a tiny town in the middle of rural Laos so there isn’t much to in the actual town apart from the tubing, so we had planned to have a quiet night. It started very innocently with some pool and beers, but ended up speaking to a group in the hostel and found out that if you plan it correctly each bar has an hour of free whiskey or beer so you could drink for free all night. For example, Sakura had free whiskey from 8-9, then Viva had free beer from 9-10, and then back to Sakura for more free whiskey 10-11 – then you actually go back to Viva again as it’s probably the nicer of the two; can’t really ask for more than that!

For our one full day in Vang Vieng, we obviously went tubing. I was really looking forward to it, it was the only really fun thing we had planned for the whole of Laos. The hostel we stayed in had a really good set up for it. You just met at the reception at 12:30 and they organize a tuk-tuk to come pick you, and anyone else in the hostel that’s tubing that day, to take you to the tubing office, you pay, get your tube and then the tuk-tuk takes you to the river. A little bit of advice if you’re planning on going – DONT TAKE ANYTHING. It will get wet. Get a dry bag and bring money and a waterproof camera (or GoPro) if you have one, nothing else – leave your phone at the hostel! We wore bikinis and t-shirt, not even shorts or shoes, and although this resulted in a few cuts on our toes and the soles of our feet as we scrambled to get out of the river at the end of the tubing, it was worth it not to lose them.

Only 3 other people from our hostel were tubing the same day as us but they were a good laugh and good company. When we got the river we actually had no idea what we were doing, but luckily some Laotian man was shouting and beckoning us over to this metal raft on a wire which takes you over to the first bar – you don’t even get in the tube or river before they get you on the beer!

When we reached the first bar it was quite quiet but there were already drinking games underway. We took it quite slow, to begin with, we were a little bit on the ropey side and although I fully believe in hair of the dog, it was still a struggle. After a few beerlao, we were feeling much better and got involved in musical chairs – or musical tubes. As there are now only 2 bars along the river you have to stay at the first one for quite a while, we had met a few people that didn’t know that and then had got to the second bar and realized that was it! As there weren’t that many people tubing that day, maybe around 30? It actually created a really nice atmosphere where you met everyone and then just spend the whole day as a large group.

We spent about 2 hours at the first bar and once everyone was relatively jolly we jumped in the tubes for the first time and started floating down the river. The second bar is only a 10 or 15-minute tube down the river and everyone tries to hold onto each other but to make one big raft. Somehow, Nia and I ended up on the wrong side of the river and were left frantically kicking to get over to the bar. The people at the bar throw lines out with water bottles attached to the end to pull you in. You just have to grab them and hold on for dear life otherwise you’re a goner and you’d be left doing the 45-minute float down to the endpoint on your own!

We made it (just) and spent the rest of the afternoon at this bar. It started raining, but if you’re already wet from the river and in swimsuits it actually just made it even more fun. After the second bar you just float all the way down to the end point, everyone is in a great mood and the scenery is stunning – what a better way to see rural Laos than in a tube, happily floating, a beer in one hand and someone else’s tube in the other.

Me trying desperately hard to get an arty shot while tubing – please ignore me and instead take in the breathtaking scenery.

Nia and I ended up missing the end of the tubing and a man literally had to run down the side of the river and throw more lines out for us to catch. We then had to scramble up the bank onto a pile of broken tiles – this is how we cut our feet we’re pretty sure, although I can’t say we noticed at the time. Apparently, there is a bar next to where you hand your tubes back in where everyone goes, but that went completely over our heads – I had actually gone to get food, they sell these devious sandwiches at the side of the roads and ended up losing everyone. Thankfully the man at the tube shop walked me to the end of the road and pointed out our hostel because everyone had left me!

We didn’t make it out that night. We had gone for some food – a very disgusting pizza actually, and Nia had managed to fall asleep at the restaurant. It was a fantastic day and I wish we’d been able to stay one more day and do it all over again. There are actually loads of things to do around Vang Vieng in addition to the tubing, there is rock climbing and loads of other outdoor activities which are now being pushed by the Laos government to try and rid Vang Vieng of its backpacker’s party town reputation. We didn’t have the time (or the money) to do any of these things but I wish we had.

D9C4648D-2473-4ADD-8AB0-6E643A188AE2 — Nia having a wee nap in the restaurant

Hostel: Real backpackers – this is pretty much where everyone stays. Again, it’s quite basic but the vibe is nice and everyone you meet is on the same page as you. Also, as I’ve mentioned before, their set up for the tubing is good and it’s really easy way to meet people. There is a real backpackers 1 and 2, we stayed in 1 and we were glad as people in 2 said there was no real atmosphere.

Vientiane

The next afternoon we got the bus (thankfully it was a real bus this time) to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We’d been told that there is literally nothing to do there apart from temples which did not fill us with much joy, but obviously, it was a place we had to go visit. When we arrived we realized that there really was nothing to do… so we googled best restaurants in Vientiane and found a tiny steak/BBQ place right next to the hostel called Ray’s Grille Laos. Weirdly enough the top 5 were all in walking distance and that kind of told me that these probably weren’t the best restaurants, just ones that backpackers and managed to find and thought were alright.

To be fair, the food was actually really good. They only had about 6 things on the menu and you could see the food being made. I went for a Philly cheese steak (yes, I know, very bad of me) because all the reviews said it was fantastic and I was not disappointed. The hostel was pretty quiet so Nia and I just played a few rounds of pool and went to bed (the reason we had started playing so much of it was that we are shocking at it. We didn’t improve).

Beerlao – probably one of my favorite beers I’d tried while away, and Nia attempting to play pool

On our last full day of our travel, we hired bikes and cycled around the city. We went to the river as obviously, we were standing in Laos, but on the other side, a stone’s throw away is Thailand. After we’d done that, well, we had nothing to do. We ended up just spending the day sorting out our bags and putting everything in order for the 40-hour journey home we were starting the next day, it was relatively depressing, to say the least.

Nia had great tan lines after this little adventure

In the evening we went to the night market to buy a few last presents. A guy we’d met in Vang Vieng was staying the same hostel so he tagged along. While we were out it started absolutely chucking it down and by the time we had got to the restaurant for dinner, we were soaked through!

I know we should have got Asian food on our last night, and I do feel guilty about this, but the top-rated restaurant in Vientiane is a pizza place called PDR pizza, only a 5-minute walk from the hostel. This food was actually amazing, they also had this garlic sauce which I’m pretty sure was just grated garlic cloves in oil but it tasted so damn good. One of the owners was actually sat at the table next to us and we got chatting with him and his wife. The guy was Italian and he and his brother had both come out to Laos traveling, met the love of their lives there and opened up this Pizzeria. We wangled some free limoncello out of it as well! So, although not a very traditionally Laotian meal, it was a great last night.

Hostel: Dream home hostel – Again, this is just where everyone stays. Clean rooms and good aircon, free breakfasts and a pool.

The trip back to the UK was a long one. First it was an hour flight from Vientiane to Bangkok, a 12 hour layover in Bangkok (we actually went to the cinema and back in this time), 6 hours to Doha, 7 hours to London and although this was the end of Nia’s trip, with both of her parents turning up to welcome her home, I had another 5 hour wait in Heathrow and finally got back to Edinburgh 46 hours after leaving the hostel in Laos. Just to add to the stress of this whole journey, when we were queuing to check in in Bangkok, we heard loud screaming coming from the floor below us – I genuinely thought there was some form of attack occurring, people were stood still, most reaching for their bags in case this was the real deal. Thankfully the screaming stopped and we later discovered it was, in fact, a Korean boy bad which had just arrived and it was only a gaggle of teenage girls which had made my life flash before my eyes. Mild depression did set in as we landed in Heathrow to rain and 14 degrees and I couldn’t think for the life of me why I had even bothered to come back, but the thought of my own bed, a wardrobe, and some clean clothes did lift my spirits a tiny bit.

E5121478-373C-4788-8894-8D95739026CE — The massive popcorn we got at the cinema at Bangkok, we even got it all the way through security but by the time it was our flight it was even too stale or us (who have 0 money) to eat.

iKON – the Korean boy band that nearly had me running out the airport, backpack, and popcorn in hand.

And now I’m back. Back to wearing socks and shoes again, back to paying through the roof for everything – just back to reality in general. The looming dread of trying to find somewhere to live in London and a job, even though it’s all temporary has fuelled my need to get back out there. Backpack Bradie is now on pause until I start my next adventure; New Zealand and Australia at the start of next year – I cannot wait.

Vietnam

August 25, 2017April 11, 2018Posted in Uncategorized2 Comments

I’m going to start off by saying that I already know that I need to come back to Vietnam. As our trip was so rushed we only got 12 days here and you need (at least) month, maybe even 6 weeks to do everything properly. We only went to Ho Chi Minh, Hoi An, Hanoi and, we spent about 4 hours in Hue – we missed out the mountains and waterfalls in Dalat, we missed the beaches in Nha Trang and we missed trekking in Sapa just to name a few – so don’t worry Vietnam, I will be back! Saying that this is a long post so make yourself a cuppa and get comfortable.

Ho Chi Minh

Our first day in Ho Chi Minh was pretty chilled. We were so tired from the journey that when we got to the hostel and we couldn’t check in till 1, we went up to their chill-out room which consisted of a couple sofas and bean bags and we found about 5 people KO-ed in the room. We quickly joined them and slept until we could check in. For dinner we got our first authentic Pho in Vietnam – this one was actually the best one we had the whole trip. The hostel’s rooftop bar had free beers from 7 till 8 so we went up to check it out. The vibe was quite weird and I’m not really sure how to explain it, It seemed like everyone in this hostel had just been traveling for a bit too long. We did meet some alright people at the end and at 10 they moved everyone to the downstairs bar which had more of a club-like atmosphere and that we a lot better. We didn’t go out though, we were in bed by 12.

Even though we didn’t go out, I was hanging’ out of my arse in the morning. Nia had been up all night being sick and pick up for our Mekong Delta tour at 7:45am – we very nearly bailed on it. If I’m honest, we didn’t really have any idea what this tour entailed and when we got on the bus and were told it was a 2-hour bus to the boat, we were quite shocked. We had no headphones, food, or anything really. Luckily we were so knackered we passed out for the whole journey, me obviously with my mouth wide open catching flies left, right and center.

We had one stop on the way to the Mekong river to see some huge buddhas, a laughing one, a sleeping one and a standing one. It was actually bloody roasting and after taking a few pics of the buddhas we resided on a bench in the shade with a sprite.

FullSizeRender 9 — Reclining Buddha – aka me personified; majestic and sleepy

We met two people from our hostel on the tour, a boy called Avid from Germany and Cathrine from the US, they were both pretty nice and the 4 of us stayed together for what became a very peculiar day.

So the Mekong river is the longest river in Asia and runs all the way from China through Laos, Thailand and ends in Vietnam. It’s so wide that it had islands in it and our tour was to go visit 3 of these islands. We could never figure out if our tour guide was joking or not because he said things like the Dragon island was full of hot women for the single men, Unicorn island was full of hot men for the single woman, and we think the third one was called coconut island?? Honestly, we were so confused, I don’t know if these were their actual names or if he made them up.

The first stop was to we think coconut island where they make this coconut candy. I’m normally a fan of coconut but I was not fond of this stuff. It tasted like toffee in the beginning and then just straight coconut, but the locals love it apparently.

The second stop was to this obvious tourist trap, we had lunch on this island but

it was one of the strangest places I’ve ever been. There was some kind of games tournament going on with different teams trying to catch fish in baskets in the river, then there was a competition of who could ride a bike along this wooden plank in a lake for the longest and all this kind of stuff. On this island, there was also a crocodile farm and a bamboo bridge across the river. This bridge was no bigger than foot-width so you did not want to lose concentration at any point or you were going in!

Crocodile farm – no idea what the island was actually called

After this was a stop at an island which hosted a bee farm, we got to try some local Vietnamese tea with honey and seeds. The tea itself was nice but I was sat next to the beehive and it took all of my energy and self-control to just not duck and cover – they were everywhere. Then randomly after the tea the guide just whipped out this huge python for people to take pictures. After the snake, they took to this restaurant for some fruit and then we had some Vietnamese singers!!?? Obviously, we had no idea what they were saying when they were singing their traditional Vietnamese songs. Their final song was a rendition of ‘if you’re happy and you know it’ which was weird in itself but although they started with the conventional clap your hands and stomp your feet, the final one was (we think) swing your eyes!? How on earth do you swing your eyes!?

Bee farm and me looking pretty terrified at this snake. Excuse the nappy-style shorts, they were the only clean ones I had left!

Following that whole ordeal, we were taken on traditional Vietnamese boats through a mini river on that an through the island, it was probably the nicest part of the trip, very relaxing with good scenery, plus the skill these people had to be able to weave in and out of boats in this tiny river was pretty impressive.

Traditional Vietnamese wooden boats floating along one of the islands inner rivers

That evening it was ‘neon’ night and the pub crawl at the hostel, so me being me, I went all out and bought a very ugly neon orange Saigon vest to then discover that I was the only one with one on apart from staff. Fabulous.

The day after that we went to the Chu Chi tunnels. I had vague memories of going there as a kid but obviously, I appreciated it much more this time around. These tunnels are what the Vietnamese guerrillas used to fight the Americans in the Vietnam war – these things run on 3 levels and are absolutely tiny. The also showed us all the bamboo traps they used to injure the Americans – it was some pretty nasty stuff.

Vietnamese guerrilla models and the bamboo traps they used to injure (not kill) the US soldiers

They have one tunnel 120m long that you can crawl through, and saying crawl is no exaggeration. Nia is a little bit claustrophobic and so got out at the first exit. Even I was starting to not feel 100% so got out before the end, which was annoying because it was 10m before the final exit of the whole tunnel! I also lost my fan in the tunnel so if anyone reading this is heading there, keep an eye out for a blue fan, please. At the end of the tour, they showed us a video, never seen propaganda quite like it! They just mentioned all of the ‘heros’ of the war because of how many Americans they killed and things like that. What struck me the most was actually how so many of these ‘heroes’ were women, some even school girls. I doubt many American women were sent over there to fight, but then again maybe it would have been different if it was on their own home ground. Saying that it’s not just in the war that I noticed that women are really valued, you see them in all the positions of authority – border control, police etc. and our tour guide did once say that: women number 1, men number 10).

Entrance to a now collapsed tunnel and the air vents to these tunnels – they often tried to mask the air vents by hiding them in termite nests and against trees and the Americans, if they found them, would drown out the Vietnamese by pumping water into them.

By the time we got back from the tunnels we were pretty tired, we went straight to the central market for food – it was amazing! Would definitely recommend going, so many aromas and the food was fantastic. We finished off our meal with that roll up ice cream you see in videos on Facebook – you can choose whatever you want in it, mango, chocolate, Oreos, strawberry etc. and they just mash it up on this flat cool plate with milk and then flatten it down, spread it out and roll it up. I had the chocolate one and honestly, it was actually too chocolatey for me! Wish now I’d tried one of the fruit flavors.

After the market we just went to bed, we had an early start for our flight to Hoi An the next morning.

Hostel: Hideout – good party hostel, rooms are basic but okay. The vibe was quite weird although they had a rooftop bar and another one on the ground floor which was more like a club. The staff were helpful enough and it was in a good location in District 1. If I was to go to Ho Chi Minh again I’d probably try out Flipside. They also give you a free breakfast, either eggs and bread or a fruit plate which is a winner

Hoi An

Firstly, I just want to say that we loved Hoi An – although it can be a bit sketchy at night, the old town is just beautiful and the place is just so much nicer than the manic and constant beeping of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, we even extended our time here and cut out Hue we loved it so much.

We arrived in Da Nang around lunch time and shared a cab to Hoi An with this American guy, it was pretty lucky he approached us because if he hadn’t, we’d of have to get a taxi to the bus station, a bus and then another taxi from the bus station in Hoi An, this guy saved us about 2 hours.

We checked into our hostel and then went for a wander around the old town and along the river. We hadn’t meant to have walked so far, but by the time we were nearly at the hostel we were dying from the heat and sweat. We decided it was time to treat ourselves. i’d been living with some seriously ratchet nail polish for 2 weeks now and was in desperate need of a wax – so we went to the spa for the afternoon.

Yes, that woman is scraping away my dead skin with some form of knife

Once back in the hostel we went to the bar, it was already pretty rowdy and we were clearly very behind everyone else. At this bar, you can pay about £2.50 for unlimited drinks between 8-10pm and we had arrived about 9pm so there was no way we were catching up.

Eventually, a northerner called Conor came an sat next to us, mostly because he was avoiding his friends, one of which was so plastered he could even stand. This lad was throwing chairs, ashtrays, spilled 2 drinks on me and threw my drink across the table – a complete twat if I’m honest. We weren’t really feeling it after that so never made it out.

thumbnail_IMG_2773 — Nia is clearly loving Conor’s chat

The next day, Nia and I hired some bikes and got coerced by some woman to go to her shop and get some things tailored. We did want to get something made while we were there as its one the main things to do, so I guess she took the job of picking a tailor for us. You can basically choose any style, I went for a playsuit, a jumpsuit and then a matching crop top and skirt, and then you choose any fabric. They then just measure you up and you go back the next day to get it, I paid about £100 for all 3 and I’m pretty chuffed with the result! I can never get jumpsuits to fit me properly.

After the tailors, we just had a cycle around the old town, stopped for a milkshake and some pho before going back to the hostel. Luckily for us, we bumped into the boys in our room and we ended up going out for dinner with them and 2 of their friends. This was their 8th and final night in Hoi An and they took us to this amazing burger place, I’m not going to lie it was probably one of the best burgers I’d had in a long time!

FullSizeRender 5 — View of the river from the Japanese bridge in the old town

We then all just then went back to the hostel and had some beers, in the actual bar was pretty hectic so we grabbed some tables outside by the pool (also a lot cooler than being in that tin can), played our own music and just chilled. These boys were doing the Hai Van pass the next morning so weren’t looking for a big one and that suited us just fine.

We got up early the next day and had the free breakfast at the hostel before going on our tour of My Son Sanctuary – a UNESCO world heritage site. The breakfast was amazing for a hostel! They had an egg station, pancakes, fruit, noodles, toast, juice, and coffee.

Nia really enjoying the history of the region

The Myson tour was pretty awful. The Americans had bombed the temples so badly during the war to the point there was just basically piles of rubble next to bomb craters. It was probably amazing back in the day, but now there isn’t much to see.

We got a boat back to Hoi An, which was also pretty boring, no great views or anything, just a slow-moving boat along a muddy river. If you’re ever in Hoi An, I wouldn’t bother going and for me, it was a waste of money, but at least we can say we did one cultural thing while being there!

That evening we met Zoe and Miranda who had just arrived. We had a few drinks in the bar and went out for dinner with the next set of boys in our room. Our plan was to take them to the burger place but after dragging them along for a good 15-minute walk in the heat, we realized that the place was shut on Wednesdays and then just had a very below average Vietnamese dinner, not even the Pho was good.

We had planned to have a big night with the girls that night but for some reason, we just weren’t getting drunk. They went to bed about 12 and I had planned to go to bed soon after but once I got to the room I found 2 people shagging and the room just stank. So although I’d taken off all my make up, moisturized and brushed my teeth, I went back downstairs to find Nia.

I ended up talking to these Irish blokes and somehow ended up in a taxi to the club with a load of people I hadn’t met. Entry to Tiger-Tiger and a double was 200,000 Dong, just to put it into perspective a beer is usually 20,000 and a gin and tonic 25,000 – there was no way I was going in there.

Hoi An isn’t the safest at night, one of the guys had a gun pulled on him and robbed and when you’re drunk/ out of it people will just steal your money straight from your bumbag or offer you a lift home on their motorbikes, which I think everyone can agree is just a terrible idea – so I didn’t want to go home on my own at all, even in a taxi. Luckily the boys I had gone with weren’t keen on spending that much money either so we walked along until we found a bar that was open – it was called why not (classic).

There was no one else in this club apart from us, the music was just being played through a laptop connected to speakers and so these boys just going for it playing this awful chav Irish music and dancing like lunatics – I was nowhere near drunk enough for that! As I couldn’t go home on my own I just had to wait (nearly 2 hours!) for them to be ready to head back. Thankfully by the time I got back the pair had stopped shagging and were asleep – poor Nia was underneath them and feeling a bit seasick I’d imagine!

On our final day in Hoi An, Zoe, Miranda and I cycled to the beach while Nia stayed firmly bed! The beach was a 15-minute cycle away and although the roads are pretty hectic (pretty much anything goes) I really enjoyed the cycle and it was a good way to see more than just the center of town.

The beach and Miranda and Zoe looking very cute in their rice hats!

That night us girls cycled into the old town where all the lanterns are lit up at night – it was very picturesque and there so much going on there at night. After dinner, we just had 1 beer at the hostel but we were all so tired we just headed to bed. Nia and I were getting picked up to go along the Hai Van Pass at 8 and the girls had a tour at 8:30 so none of us were in the mood to get smashed – I was fast asleep by 11:30.

Hostel: Sunflower hotel – this is a party hostel for sure. The rooms are basic but there is a bar, restaurant and pool and it’s super easy to meet people. If you want a relaxing time don’t stay here, but if not, this is probably a really good option for you. It’s also only a 10 min cycle into the old town and a 15 min cycle to the beach. Only thing is you have to be super wary of the men that stand outside and sell balloons, they’re pretty nasty people so just don’t interact with them on your own.

Hai Van Pass

So, normally what people do is hire motorbikes to do the Hai Van pass, which is the coastal/mountain road that runs between Hoi An and Hue – made famous by Top Gear. Since the tunnel through the mountain was built in 2005, most of the traffic goes through there leaving the pass quite empty apart from bikes, tourists and oil tankers (they aren’t allowed through the tunnel).

We decided to get a car instead, it was only £20 each and I think my mum would have killed me if I’d hoped on a bike for the first time in Vietnam. We also chose to wear our beautiful shit shirts (kind of a right of passage in (Hoi An/ Vietnam) on the trip just so the pictures could be even more gorgeous.

FullSizeRender 15 — Me in my shit shirt next to our noble steed (basically an uber)

We stopped a couple of times along the way, first at a place called marble mountain. These are a cluster of limestone and marble hills with a load of tunnels, caves and temples build into and on them. It was a really pretty place with good viewpoints and gardens and if you don’t want to walk up the steps there is a lift… we may have got the lift.

One of the temples and Nia in one of the caves in Marble Mountain

Just as I was losing the battle to sleep – every time I sit down for more than 5 minutes I’m out like a light these days – we drove onto the pass. It really was stunning and we stopped twice along the pass to get photos. At the main stop at the top of the mountain, you could see Da Nang to your left and Hue to your right. We had some Vietnamese coffee at this top – it was surprisingly good! I’m guessing it was full of condensed milk and sugar because normally I can’t stand coffee!

View from the top of the pass, you can see Hue in the distance. Me and Nia in our shit shirts.

While in the car we decided that we weren’t going to spend the night in Hue as everyone we’d met said there was literally nothing to do there apart from seeing a couple of temples and the town was pretty quiet – we were so templed out, I honestly couldn’t bear to see another one! We managed to call the bus company, and with the help of our driver for translating, managed to change our bus to Hanoi to that evening instead of the next day.

Hue

Our hostel in Hue was so understanding and also called them to confirm they were picking us fro here – they even gave us a discount as we weren’t staying the night anymore! We had booked a private room and when we got there the fact we were going to be on a 13 hour bus instead of this cute, air coned, private room with 2 double beds and a TV did make us question our choice for a second, but we knew that just chilling in the room for the night and then walking around temples we didn’t want to see the next day would have been a waste of time.

We had a bit of a wander around the town in search of food, and an hour before our bus was supposed to leave nipped out for a quick crepe. We came into the hotel 40 minutes before the scheduled departure and the woman at the desk was like “the bus come in 5 minutes!!”

We then had to run up the 3 flights of stairs to our room, quickly change and pack and then get back down them. Then these 2 guys arrived and we had to get on the back of their motorbikes with our huge rucksacks on! We thought they were taking us to the bus, but in fact they were just taking us to the tourist office which was probably about a 5 minute walk away… it was safe to say we were very confused. Eventually we got to the bus and apart form Nia losing her neck pillow (she was pretty attached to that thing), changing the bus was a pretty painless process.

Nia looking very upset at losing her neck pillow

The bus from Hue to Hanoi is 13 hours and this sleeper bus was no where near as comfortable as the one we took in Cambodia! Instead of having flat beds it just has really reclined seats and had no plug sockets. However, it was comfortable enough – still better than an economy class plane ticket!

Hostel: Thanh An Hostel – Really nice place. Although we didn’t actually spend the night the room was really clean and cool and the staff were lovely. It’s a quiet hostel but the whole of Hue is quiet so would definitely recommend staying there. There are also loads of bars and restaurants in walking distance and its only a short cycle to most of the main attractions.

Hanoi

Arrived in Hanoi about 6am, had some of the free breakfast and then just napped – I didn’t even think I was tired so tried to watch some netflix but passed after about 20 minutes. Around lunch time we got up and went for a wonder around the lake. We stopped for Vietnamese coffee, which is basically black coffee with condensed milk – it’s honestly so great!

Us both loving the vietnamese coffee – condensed milk for life!

Nia and I then went to the market for a very successful shopping expedition, I needed to get a bag and a wash-bag, while Nia needed a towel and a neck pillow – our bartering skills have improved exponentially. We also had a wonder around the lake – a moment of peace in the madness that is Hanoi. There is a temple in the middle of it, and I’m not 100% sure of the story but I’m pretty sure it was something to do with a turtle being blessed and getting a sword or something? You can look it up if you’re that interested.

thumbnail_FullSizeRender-2 — The lake featuring the turtle’s temple and/or house!?

That night we went up to the rooftop bar of the hostel and met the weirdest group of people… people of all ages and backgrounds. They were really nice people but we made the executive decision that food was more important. While we were eating we bumped into those knob-head boys we’d met in Hoi An and they showed us that they had just got tattoos (we did actually make up with in the end they ended up being quite good company). Just so we are clear, I have been wanting a tattoo for about 5 years now and I’ve known i’ve wanted an elephant on my ribs for at least 4 of those years, it just took me a little dutch courage to finally get it done! So yes, I got my first tattoo in Vietnam – how cliche. Thankfully, I absolutely love it.

FullSizeRender 7 — My wee little ellie! – Yes I went traveling and got a tattoo

The next day we had planned to go see Ho Chi Minh’s (the man himself) embalmed body – weird right, but you can only do it from 8am-11am so we obviously missed it… wore long trousers in 80% humidity for no bloody reason. Instead, we went to the woman’s museum – it was actually really good! A lot of the minority societies and tribes in Vietnam are matriarchal and the women are valued much more than the men – my type of place to be honest. One of the weirdest rituals we learnt about was this one community where they have a ‘courting month’. In this month the women can propose to the men, and if they decline they have to wait a week before they can proposed to someone else.. how bizarre!

The gold woman’s stance is supposed to represent the post-conflict behind her (the hand facing backward) and the responsibilities of family (holding up the child)

We also learnt about the huge role the women have played in the numerous wars – for example they would pretend to be carrying crops on their carrying pole (those beams they carry on their shoulders with baskets on either end), and when they got close to the enemy they’d drop the crops and start beating people with the beams… There was a saying in Vietnam as the time – carry a weapon in one hand and a plough in the other – it was the only way they could ensure there was enough food to support the country during war time.

thumbnail_FullSizeRender-3 — Nia demonstrating the carrying pole – its a lot harder (and heavier) than it looks!

After the museum we’d felt like we’d done enough cultural stuff for one day so just headed back to hostel to have a shower – i’ve never been sweatier than I have been in Vietnam, although its only just over 30 degrees, the humidity is so high it feels like over 40 everyday, its pretty unbearable.

We went out for dinner – a very disappointing Mexican, couldn’t hack vietnamese food. We then just had a couple beers on beer street and bumped into a different set of boys we’d met in Hoi An. We then headed back to their hostel, theirs is the main party hostel in Hanoi and we’d wished we stayed there so badly – we did move after our trip to Ha Long Bay. We were supposed to have a quiet night because we were getting picked up at 6:30 the next morning for our castaway trip – it was defintiely not a quiet night.

Ha Long Bay – Castaways

So the Vietnam backpackers hostel (VBH) runs this trip called Castaways. It’s not a cheap trip, much more than any backpackers could afford but every person we’d spoken too said it was so worth the money. Despite this, we still only did 1 night although you should do the full 2 – we regretted it so much but we had to get back for our flight to Laos! What the tour consists of is them taking you private island in Ha Long Bay, which is obviously beautiful, they have loads of activities you can do (all included in the price) – tubing, rock climbing and kayaking, all meals are included and then they just get you absolutely wasted. First beers are brought out at 11am on the boat over. It was a really fun trip and we had to miss the booze cruise on the second which is apparently the best bit, but never mind! Next time. We went tubing which was great fun although I really shouldn’t have been in the water with my tattoo… the water wasn’t exactly the cleanest, I cleaned it once I got out though and it seems to be okay. The rest of the night was just spent drinking and dancing – everyone had a really good time and just as people told me, it’s 100% worth the money.

Ha Long bay and our private island! Cabins on the left and the restaurant/bar on the right.

Hanoi

The journey back to Hanoi was long, everyone on that trip was so broken and we slept the whole way. By the time we got back it was already 5pm and we were starving. To celebrate our last night in Vietnam we treated ourselves to a really good pizza that one of the staff recommend, a place called 4P’s – definitely worth a visit!

We then headed to the hostel bar – we’d checked into VBH and started talking to some Irish blokes we’d met on the castaway and went on the pub crawl with them.

Because everything has to shut around 12am, anywhere that is open after that either has some secret knock to get into or has extortionate drink prices as they are paying off the police at the same time. We ended up at this illegal rave in I guess it could’ve been a warehouse? Not too sure if i’m honest, It was so much fun though (and when I say expensive drinks I mean a beer would be £2 instead of £1).

thumbnail_Image-1 — If you’ve never had a banh mi, it’s a Vietnamese street food snorting of bread filled with random stuff – meat, vegetables, sometimes noodles! Each one is different but at 60p a pop, you couldn’t ask for a better snack and/or drunk munch

On our final day in Hanoi we spent the entire time moving from fan to fan, it was unbearably hot. First we went for a vietnamese coffee and had a look on spare room for somewhere to live in London. Then we went for food – I got a pho and Nia a Banh Mi, thats when Conor ands mate Dan joined us. Honestly these guys are so funny, they had me in absolute stitches. They hadn’t actually managed to see any of Hanoi past the hostel and bar street, so we took them on a bit of a tour to the lake and did a bit of shopping.

thumbnail_FullSizeRender-4 — Dan, Nia, Conor and me on the one cultural thing they did in Hanoi – this picture thankfully doesn’t show the extent of our sweatiness!

Walking around for even an hour or so was too much, it got to the point where you didn’t want any part of your body to touch another part of your body, so we went back to the hostel, found in the biggest fan and just sat next to it until it was time to go to the airport.

Even though we got to the airport 2 hours before our flight, we still managed to be the last people on it as we ended up waiting at burger king for chips to spend our last Dong on – bloody typical, us running through the airport once again.

So goodbye Vietnam, I will be seeing you again soon!

Thailand – Bangkok, Chiang Mai & the Thai Islands

August 12, 2017April 2, 2024Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment

Bangkok, Thailand (again)

It was safe to say the 8am bus was less fun than the night before and we were not even close to being ready to leave Cambodia, but Katie had arrived in Bangkok and we needed to go meet her. Thankfully Nia and I pretty much slept the whole way there.

thumbnail_IMG_2110 — Us looking fabulous on the bus to Bangkok

We met Katie in the hostel and went out to Koahsan road for food and drinks. We had a couple of buckets and I ended up getting a compass henna on my shoulder – possibly a future tattoo idea? – and a blue braid. Nia got a purple one and Katie got a dread (gross).

Katie

Katie with her dread and me with my braid – Bangkok

Nia was knackered so headed back to the hostel, Katie and I went into ‘The Club’ – yes thats literally what it was called. We didn’t stay long though, it wasn’t great and I was so so tired. On our way home we stopped in this dive bar, had a beer and drank some thai wiskey – it was disgusting, I don’t even like normal whiskey. Finally, by some miracle I managed not to smudge my henna and we remembered the way home and collapsed into bed.

Hostel: Mad Monkey – We decided stay at a Mad Monkey again because of the great time we had in Phnom Penh. Its brand new so it’s super clean and has a nice bar and pool. The rooms are small (4 bed dorms) so you need to meet people in communal areas but I would stay here again.

Next stop Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai

When I last left you we were on a 12-hour train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, in hindsight the bus would have been a better idea but never mind. If I’m completely honest, it wasn’t half as bad as we were expecting, although it was about an hour late – I don’t think many things run on time in Thailand!

The hostel we were staying in boasted a free breakfast, and although Katie and I thought it was spot on – it had boiled eggs, tomatoes, fresh bread and one Asian option – Nia was less enthused and ate plain bread most mornings.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the city. We walked along to the local (Warorot) market and had a drink at a riverside cafe – it was boiling but it was good to see the city on foot. We also had a quite chilled evening, with dinner and a few drinks, but we were very conscious that we didn’t want to be feeling rough-as for the elephants the next day!

Adhering to that mindset, we got into bed at 11pm, ready for a good nights sleep. Just before I turned my phone off, I suddenly realised that we were leaving Chiang Mai on the 31st, but not getting to Koh Samui till the 3rd because of our long travel plans and 1 night in Bangkok. By this point, we were so done with Bangkok and couldn’t think of anything worse than spending another night on Khaosan road. So, we quickly booked flights from Bangkok (we’d still get the overnight train down from Chiang Mai) to Koh Samui – a 1-hour flight compared to a 2-day journey just seemed so worth the money!

It wasn’t until Nia was reading the booking confirmation that we noticed we’d booked them for the 1st September, not August – you’ve got to be kidding me. We quickly called the airline but they said they couldn’t change our dates or refund us fully – that’s what we get for flying Budget Air – but we still canceled them and booked new ones. The money for the original flights has yet to come out of the bank (touch wood), so we’re really hoping that the woman took pity on us! Either way, all three of us went to bed feeling a bit grumpy.

Luckily, one look at the elephants the next day and we’d forgotten all about the previous nights’ fiasco. The elephant park was really was amazing. We chose to go to an ethical park with no riding, it was called ‘Elephant Jungle Sanctuary’ and I would highly recommend it. They taught us that riding on their necks is fine, but not on their backs where the spine is. The elephants in this sanctuary are wild, they go into the jungle at night, but come back to the park every day because they know when they’re going to be fed!

They dressed us up in traditional costumes and we got to go feed/meet the elephants. There were even 2 babies! One around 7 months old, and one around 1 month old. They were too cute! After feeding them and getting photos, we were taught a bit about elephant medicine. Every day the park give the elephants a mixture of seeds, bananas, rice and pineapple to help with their digestion. After feeding this to the elephants, we had a traditional Thai buffet-style lunch and got changed into swimsuits.

Me having the time of my life and Katie, me and Nia with the elephants

We then walked through the jungle with the elephants to a mud bath, where we got to clean them with the mud and then wash it off in the river – it was an excellent day.

thumbnail_IMG_2311 — Our group in the river with the elephants

In the evening we went to this place called Zoe’s in Yellow, Nia and I weren’t really feeling a big night out but Katie was on a mission. We left her alone for about 30 seconds, and when we returned she was standing in a group of guys getting free drinks. Nia and I stayed for a bit and we met some of Katie’s men, but it was really loud, we were really tired AND we had the cooking course the next day! In the end, we left Katie to her own devices and headed home.

Pick up for the cooking class was at 8:30am and we had to check out of the hostel before then. It was reassuring when I saw that Katie had made it back to her own bed but things took a turn for the worst when I woke her up saying it was time to go. At first, I thought she was just sneezing or had the hiccups or something. It wasn’t until she ran out the room that I realized she was actually throwing up and using her duvet as some type of bowl.

Nia and I packed our bags and went down to get some breakfast. By some miracle, Katie actually joined us, although this was after she had brought her sick-filled duvet down to reception, tried to explain what had happened but the receptionist actually unwrapped her sick at the front desk next to everyone eating breakfast.

When we got to the cooking class Katie wasn’t much better, luckily the woman taking the cooking class was very sweet and understanding, and didn’t mind that Katie slept with a jumper over her face on a beanbag for 3 out of 7 courses.

thumbnail_IMG_2245 — Katie regretting the previous nights’ decisions at the cooking school

The cooking class itself was awesome, first we got given traditional thai hats to wear and were taught about all the herbs and vegetables in their garden. Then we were taken to the local market and shown what they would buy for the meals we were going to make.

Me and Nia having a considerably better time than Katie

We got to make 6 courses, I chose to make pad thai, spring rolls, spicy chicken salad, green curry – including curry paste from scratch, Tom Sab and deep fried bananas. It was all so good and after eating all of it, we had to be practically rolled out of the building. We did the course with Asia Scenic Thai Cooking School and I would 100% recommend it. The people were lovely and the food fantastic. They have two locations – one in the heart of the city and one on a farm just outside of Chiang Mai (we went to the one in the city). They also have a lovely back story – the course is run by women only. The instructor was telling us how no one thought they could make it without a man in charge of their business but they did it anyways and it was heartwarming to hear their story and you could nearly feel the pride beaming out of them.

All the great food we made at the cooking class!

It was only when we were in 7eleven buying food for the train that we noticed the time… it was half 5, 30 minutes till our train, if we missed this train, we missed our flight. Obviously we were panicking, we had 4 hours between the class and the train and have no idea how we lost so track of time. The woman at reception was really helpful and quickly flagged down a taxi and told him to get us to the train station ASAP. The taxis in Chiang Mai are all pooled taxis and the driver actually told the other guy in it to get out! We could see the minutes ticking by and we weren’t getting any closer, every minute felt like 10 and in my mind we’d already missed it, unless it was delayed. By the time we got to the station we all had our backpacks on squatting awkwardly in the taxi with the money ready to absolutely leg it.

We got to the station at 5:59, threw the money at the taxi driver and sprinted through the station. It was like a movie scene – us legging it through this station with our massive backpacks on, Katie literally screaming “BANGKOK” and everyone in the station pointing us in the direction of the train. We ran onto the train, the whistle went, and the train started moving. How was this the only train in Thailand to ever leave on time. The whole train was laughing at us and we just had to laugh because if we’d missed this train, I would have probably killed myself.

The train itself was nice it was clean, the beds were comfortable and honestly, I passed out at about 8pm and woke up a couple hours before we arrived in Bangkok.

thumbnail_IMG_2514 — All of us crammed onto Katie’s bed on the sleeper train to Bangkok

Hostel: Hostel by BED – really swanky hostel. Really nice rooms and beds, and you get a free breakfast, water, tea and coffee. Not a party hostel for sure, it’s quite quiet with no bar or restaurant. There is a kitchen however and the staff are helpful.

Koh Samui

We arrived into Bangkok very early in the morning and our flight wasn’t 5pm so we were in no rush to get to the airport. We figured out the metro system, awkwardly standing in that ‘frozen-in-time’ thing they do when the national anthem plays, and slowly made our way there. Our plan was to dump our bags and then head to a shopping mall (with air con), where we could go bowling and entertain ourselves for a couple of hours.

We got to the airport around 8:40am and after figuring out we could actually check in our bags, which in itself we were pretty chuffed about, Nia asked if we could get on an earlier flight. When the woman said “9:15?” We all just looked at each other nodded. Once again we were left pelting it through the airport to make the flight, although this time we were definitely not complaining about it. I feel like getting this flight was some sort of reward for messing up the flight booking in the first place!

By the time we landed in Koh Samui we were in such good moods – we’d made our train AND we had arrived nearly 8 hours earlier than we’d planned, giving us a whole extra day in the sun. Our hostel was directly opposite the ‘place to be’ in Koh Samui, called Ark bar. At Ark there was a restaurant, bar and loads of sun loungers. We quickly found Marcello and Lewis (who we’d met in Siem Reap) and Marcello’s friend from home, also called Marcello… I know right!? They were staying in Ark Bar but Lewis was in the same hostel as us. We spent the day tanning and started drinking quite early, we felt like we had earned it after that journey!

Screen Shot 2017-08-10 at 12.12.51 — Us feeling a lot happier in Koh Samui!

On our third day in Koh Samui we went on a boat trip to Angthong National Park – it’s a must do while there, it’s absolutely stunning. We were all feeling a bit ropey from the night before and the choppy sea was not doing Marcello or Katie any favours!

thumbnail_IMG_2384 — Whole crew ready for our boat trip

The first stop was to do some snorkelling, so while Nia, Lewis and I jumped right in, Katie and the other boys stayed firmly on the boat. Katie ended up throwing up… quite a lot and Marcello didn’t leave the boat until the very last minute. Although my GoPro ran out of memory and the water was slightly mirky, I really enjoyed the snorkelling. Plus, I’m a firm believer that the sea can cure any hangover!

The snorkelling was so much fun

The next stop was to do a bit of sea kayaking and lunch. The kayaking was probably my favourite part of the trip and we got some great photos from it. Apart from Lewis nearly sinking our boat it was just a really nice time. As we sat down to lunch, a storm started. We could see other groups still out on the kayaks and we were so glad to be safely under cover!

thumbnail_IMG_2428 — Me and Lewis pre kayak sinking

The third stop was to a small island which boasted a view point at the top of the hill. The stairs were quite steep but it only took about 10 minutes to get to the top. The view was pretty nice and you got to see the lagoon which was in the centre of this island.

The final stop was another island with a view point. We were told it would be a 45 minute round trip to get up there and with me still not feeling 100% there was no absolutly chance. Marcello and Lewis decided to do it, but they were so worried about missing the boat back they absolutely sprinted up. It took them 15mins, which isn’t bad as the record for it is 9 minutes! It’s safe to say they were quite sweaty by the time they got back down, I could see them glistening from the other side of the island.

On our last day in Koh Samui, we started off the day at the beach, but ended up going to a hotel called The Jungle Club for lunch. This place was up in the jungle (surprise surprise), but it was beautiful and the views were en point.

thumbnail_FullSizeRender — All of us at the Jungle Club, before it started to rain!

Just after we ordered and out of no where, it started to abosolutly chuck it down. Luckily our waitress said we could finish our meal in a private tree house – it was pretty awesome!

We ate and drank in there while we waited for the rain to stop. After we’d been told off a few times for jumping about while playing heads up – for any of you who don’t know it, it’s a great game on your iPhone – we decided that the rain wasn’t really going to stop so we might as well get drunk. That’s when we called the taxi driver to come take us back to Ark Bar where we stayed for the beach party.

Hostel: At (@) Hostel – would definietly recommend staying here! Staff were super helpful and the rooms really clean with good aircon and curtains. It also has a great location, bar and pool. You have to walk past a ladyboy club to get to it which is also mildly entertaining.

Koh Phanang

The next day we got the 4pm ferry to Koh Phanang, ate some food and then just chilled in the hostel – we really needed the sleep! The hostel was quite nice but the boys in our room, oh my god, they stank to high heaven. It was that kind of musty smell you get when you don’t wash your towels enough or leave them in a damp room. We spent the next 2 days holding our breaths every time we ran in to grab something!

We woke up quite early as we’d all passed out about 10pm, so just grabbed some breakfast and headed to the beach. Around lunch time, we met up with the Marcello’s and went to this place called the Slip n’ Fly. It was a kind of pool/water park/slide day party thing. It had two huge slides which sent you flying into the air, a smaller one, a volley ball court and a few bars.

thumbnail_IMG_2552 — All of us at the slip n’ fly

If I’m honest, I was abosultely terrified, it took me a while to even go on the small one, which in the end I fell off the float and it head butted me right in the nose when I hit the water.

After a Chang, and the fact that Sophie and Anna (two girls which had been in our room in Koh Samui) had just arrived on gone straight on it, Nia and I decided we just had to man up – Katie on the other hand was a lost cause, nothing could ever convince her! We went on the smaller of the two but I was still shiting myself! The video of me is hilarious, I have limbs going everywhere.

After that it was happy hour and all cocktails were 100bht so we got straight on the frozen margs. They were lethal. That night was the jungle party and we met up with Lewis and his friends, Zoe and Miranda who were lovely! We drank a couple buckets at a beach bar called Cactus and then all jumped in a taxi to head to the party. As an aux cable isn’t a thing here, we did a sing-a-long for the full 30 minute ride… We are a very tone deaf group of people and my sincerest apologies go out to anyone who heard us that night. The jungle party had a really cool set up, it looked a lot like a festival with bars and a big stage in the middle, with everyone just dancing in the mud in the middle of the jungle. The atmosphere was buzzing and I think everyone had an excellent night.

We were feeling a wee bit peaky the next morning and i’ll shamefully admit that we went for pizza in our PJs. Katie and I then went to the beach to try and top our tan a little, although the sun was not helping the hangover, the sea did make us feel a bit better! Nia on the other hand decided to stay in the foul smelling room rotting away.

This night was supposed to be the night to end all nights – It was the Full Moon Party! In the end there was a huge group of us which just made the night so much better. At an event which attracts nearly 30,000 people a month, knowing 15 people gave us all a much higher chance of not losing absolutly everybody.

Naturally, as soon as we left this one bar everyone lost each other. By some miracle we all found each other again an hour or so later and that just made the night. Everyone was really going for it and was more sweat than human, practically sliding off each other – the sand-sweat combo probs did wonders for a our skin – exfoliating! But I doubt the buckets were doing our bowels or our livers any favours.

Katie left us the next day – I don’t know how she managed to get all the way back to Birmingham the day after full moon, but she did! I was definitely sad to see her go, having her around was so much fun. We also said goodbye to Lewis for the last time as Nia and I got the afternoon ferry to Koh Tao – we just needed to get off that island!

We finally made it to Koh Tao – we went for a pizza, met Anna (also went to Edinburgh) and Lee, her friend from home and then just went to bed, we were knackered.

Hostel: Phanang Pearl – good location, far enough from the beach that you can sleep but less than a 10minute walk to it. The rooms themselves were fine, the beds were sturdy and the aircon good. It had big lockers for bags and charging points by each bed. They were lacking on lights though, it was pretty dark! No real communal space to chill, but as most people there were there just to party it did its job. If only the boys in our room didn’t absolute reek!

Koh Tao

The next day we just chilled on the beach. I definitely preferred the beaches on Koh Samui and Phanang, but it was still a beach. However, the water was so warm that there was just no way to cool down! After noticing we were probably both getting quite burnt, Nia and I wondered back up and found Anna and Lee and just chilled in a beachside cafe in the shade.

We then just went back and got ready for the famous ‘Koh Tao Pub Crawl’. We went and got some food – a cheeky pad thai and a marg before the carnage began! Both Marcello’s, Anna and Lee also came along.

The pub crawl was actually a really good laugh. First stop was a pool party – I lost odds on to go down the slide, so straight into the pool I went! The next stop was the Ladyboy cabaret show, followed by a beach party. It was a good, although slightly sad last night with the Marcello’s!

20638650_1487006004678974_467874490597987816_n — Me having too much fun at the pool party

I won’t lie, the next morning I woke up with a pounding headache. We checked out and just chilled in a restaurant until our ferry at half 2, although I couldn’t stomach much food… very unlike me. It was going to be a very long day – 2 hour ferry to the mainland, 8 hour bus to Bangkok and then a 5am flight to Ho Chi Minh.

Hostel: Koh Tao backpackers hostel – this hostel was as basic as they come, small rooms with packed in beds. There wasn’t a lot of space in the rooms for bags or anything and although there were small lockers for your valuables, they really didn’t seem that secure. The aircon hardly worked and the fan was really loud and didn’t reach all the beds. On our first night they didn’t even give us blankets, I had to ask the next day. Saying that, the location couldn’t have been more perfect – a 5 minute walk to the beach and to all the restaurants and bars. You could use the diving school’s pool and the staff were nice. I probably wouldn’t stay here again but it could have been worse.

P.S. My GoPro died on me so there aren’t any more videos.

Cambodia

July 29, 2017January 10, 2024Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

It was an early start to get to Cambodia but the journey was pretty painless. We couldn’t check in yet so decided to get some of the sightseeing done while we waited.

We got a tuk-tuk city tour to all the main attractions – the guy driving us was really lovely and ended up just being our driver for our whole time in Phnom Penh.

We first went to the local market as we had to kill some time because the Grand Palace didn’t open till 2pm, so after doing a little bit of shopping, we just wandered around the market for about 20 mins. It was so hot and so busy, and the smell of the food bit of the market was almost a bit too much! Next, we visited Wat Phnom – this temple was in a really nice park, so we got our steps in walking around and managed to kill some time as well. The tuk-tuk driver then took us to a small restaurant by the Grand Palace while we waited for it to open. We weren’t really hungry but decided to share some fried rice, and it as probably some of the best-fried rice I’ve ever had (accompanied by a beer). When we finally got into the Grand Palace, it was stunning, but it was so so hot and I was wearing Nia’s hoodie as I was only wearing a vest so I basically nearly died from heat exhaustion. Finally, after a long day on about 3 hours sleep, we got into our room, watched love island, and napped. It was such a good nap.

After we got up, we had dinner, played some cards in the hostel restaurant, and then made our way up to the bar because there was a free punch from 8pm. Once we got to the bar, it was actually pretty busy! We got straight on the punch and sat down. We saw a South African guy – Adrian – who we’d met in our room earlier, sitting on his own so invited him over. He was great chat and we ended up spending most of the time in Phnom Penh with him. One of his friends, George, then joined us (driest man on planet earth) and we all ended up playing a very competitive game of beer pong – I’ll admit that Adrian and I lost and Nia and George were crowned victorious. As the beers flowed so did the conversation and then the hostel took us all to a club – it was a really good night. I did, however, managed to lose my vape between the hostel and the club, not ideal for day 3.

thumbnail_IMG_2102 — Mad Monkey Hostel Bar

The next day we went to visit the killing fields with Adrian and one of his friends. Just in case you didn’t know, Cambodia had a mass genocide in the late 70s due to the Khmer Rouge regime. It’s leader, Pol Pot wanted rid of all social institutions and transform the society into an agrarian one. This regime led to widespread famine, forced labor and segregated communal living, arrests and mass killings. They arrested and eventually executed almost everyone ‘suspected’ of having affiliations with the former or reign governments, as well as professionals and intellectuals. There was also an ethnic cleansing element, focusing particularly on Chinese or Vietnamese and their descendants. In most cases, if 1 person in a family was arrested/executed, the whole family would be too. Nearly 3 million people, a third of the population of Cambodia, were murdered and dumped in mass graves.

Screen Shot 2017-07-29 at 17.19.49 — Recovered skulls displayed in the killing fields memorial

We visited the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre, where around 20,000 people were brutally executed. We walked around and listened to the audio tour, it was a very somber experience with the thousands of skulls on display. The tour described the methods of genocide, for example, they would grab babies by the leg, slam them against a tree and then throw them into a mass grave.

Next we went to S21, a once girls school which had been shut down – like all schools during the Khmer Rouge regime – and turned into a prison. People were arrested for no reason and then tortured until they falsely confessed to an act of treason for which they were then executed. Only 7 people out of 14,000 known to have entered survived.

The outside of one of the buildings and a cell in S21

After that heavy day, especially on a hangover, we decided a beer was probably in order. We ate and drank a beer while we waited for our 11pm bus.

Hostel: Mad Monkey – This hostel was great. They had a bar, the restaurant was 24 hours and the people were great. Would definitely recommend!

Siem Reap, Cambodia

The sleeper bus was actually amazing, it had proper beds, wifi, and charging points. We passed out as soon as we got in and woke up in Siem Reap, albeit at 5am. This was probably the best night’s sleep I’d gotten so far!

thumbnail_IMG_2105 (1) — Me and Nia on the sleeper bus about to leave Phnom Penh

Seeing as we couldn’t check in till 2pm, we decided to head straight to Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. I don’t need to tell you that the how impressive these buildings are. Angkor Wat is the largest temple in the world and is about 900 years old… how they created it with only elephants for help baffles me.

Once we’d checked in, and after a well-needed shower and nap, we headed to the bar. We were approached some really annoying and battered 19-year-olds – repeating our names and where we’re from 20 times was not really what we were in the mood for if I’m honest. Thankfully it didn’t take long until we met some decent people. The hostel had a sky bar, so we headed up there and ended up having a 2 beer tower game of ring of fire. It was a really fun night but by 2am we were pretty shattered and headed for bed.

The next morning we allowed ourselves a good lie in and then went to see some temples in the afternoon. If I’m honest, we were pretty templed-out by then and were doing them at rapid speed. Even the tuk-tuk driver said that people normally stay about an hour at each temple, we were at each one for 20 minutes max. It was quite embarrassing, we even did laps of one temple just to kill some time and get in our steps, but I bet the driver didn’t mind, he was getting paid for the tour no matter how long it took us.

After that we headed back to the hostel and decided to chill by the pool. The beers started flowing pretty early and we started doing the hostels signature shots – overloads. These consist of a vodka shot with joss in it – a powered energy substance banned in every country apart from Cambodia and Indonesia – the joss shot is then followed by a jager bomb. These things set your heart rate through the roof and the hostel had a rule that if you had 5 overloads that you got a free T-shirt, safe to say we got them!

Second night in Siem Reap – Nia, Cameron, Liam and Me

thumbnail_IMG_2098 — Second night in Siem Reap – Nia, Cameron, Liam and Me

As we were getting ready to head out, we met some boys in our dorm, Lewis, and Marcus, and invited them to dinner with us and Liam. It was ‘Gender bender’ night at the hostel, so Nia and I very kindly lent the boys some of our dresses and we headed up to the sky bar in their long shorts and shirts. Boys clothes are boiling by the way! It was a really good night which ended with a egg and bacon roll at 4am.

thumbnail_IMG_2079 — Who wore it better? – Me and Liam

I had never been so glad to have nothing on the next day. We slept solidly until about 11 and only left the hostel to eat. We chilled by the pool most of the day and I was so hungover I couldn’t even speak – bloody overloads.

After dinner we went to the sky bar for the ‘cocktail party’ – $5 and you can drink as much of this pre-made punch as you wanted for an hour. Those things were lethal, especially when paired with piccolo – an extremely unforgiving drinking game on your phone.

Hostel: Funky Flashpackers – Actually such a great hostel. It had a pool, 24-hour bar and restaurant and the people were absolute nutters. I mean, if you want to sleep this probably isn’t the hostel for you.

Bangkok, Thailand (again)

Katie

Katie with her dread and me with my braid – Bangkok

Next stop Chiang Mai.

Thailand – Bangkok

July 10, 2017April 2, 2024Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment

Our trip started off pretty badly. With my flight from Edinburgh being delayed and having to actually get a £15 black cab to terminal 4 – it wasn’t the most relaxing beginning. Either way, my perfect record of never missing a flight (touch wood) is still intact and we managed to get to Bangkok all in one piece.

When we walked out of the airport, the wall of water hit me like a steam train and I knew that for the next 6 weeks, i was just going to be damp. Being the poor students/travelers we are, we got the bus into town (only 60BHT! thats about £1.50). After getting to the hostel and having cold shower, we headed straight to the infamous to Khoasan Road on a mini bar crawl. Although we ended up quite drunk (starting at 4pm is never a good idea!), it was pretty tame. We were drunk enough to buy some horrific bracelets, but I won’t repeat what they say on here, trying to keep it PG.

Nia having a cheeky beer and a pad thai

Backpacker heaven – Koahsan Road

We slept in quite late the next day, but at least we got over the jet lag pretty easily. After finally getting up, by a stroke of luck we found ourselves by the river at a “hop-on-hop-off” boat stop which took us to all the main attractions.

Boat stop

We first headed to China town and by this time it was about 1:30pm and we were starving. Nia was so hungry that she felt sick, she seems to have a bizarre condition where if she doesn’t eat and the proceeds to drink a lot of water, she vomits. After wandering around for 20 mins and failing to find anywhere to eat, Nia decides that a sprite is going to be the answer to her problems. 5 minutes after the ‘life-saving’ sprite, she delightfully throws up – first in her mouth, which thankfully she swallowed back down, giving us time to empty a plastic bag for the main performance. It was pretty lucky that only a little bit dribbled down onto her bag and that we managed to not get it everywhere in a very small and crowded alley. I’ll admit I awkwardly spilled orange juice all over this woman’s table, but I don’t think its as bad as Nia putting the green sloshing bag into her bin.

After that, we thought it was probably best if we headed back to the boat to get off at the next stop. We then went to see Wat Arun. I will admit we didn’t actually go into it because we had shorts on, but it was beautiful from what we could see… We then got a ferry to the other side of the river to see Wat Poh, again, stunning from the outside.

In the evening we just chilled in the hostel and then went out for a bite to eat and a beer. With a 6am flight to Phnom Penh in the morning, coming in at 2am steamin’ drunk just didn’t really have the same appeal it had the night before.

Hostel:Sabye club hostel – it was alright but rooms were quite warm and the hostel was quiet. Good location though, 10-minute walk from Koahsan Road.

Really? Another Travel blog?

July 10, 2017March 12, 2024Posted in Uncategorized1 Comment

My whole life has been based around travel.

I’ve lived in 7 different countries during my life and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my ‘ex-pat’ upbringing. Back in 2017, just after I’d graduated university and had officially joined the pool of thousands of unemployed graduates, I had two choices. I could have either, entered the rat-race of starting a grad job in London and living in some god-awful box room in Clapham, scraping together enough money to eventually move into a slightly bigger box room, while trying to maintain a social life as well as my sanity. But instead, I decided that 22 is just too young to start the rest of my life and the world is just too large to leave it to my 20 days of holiday a year to explore it all.

So now you know why I’m decided to travel, but why the blog?

If I’m completely honest, first and foremost it’s for me – for a couple of reasons;

I like having a task to complete – I’m a big fan of lists and being busy. As much fun as experiencing all of these cultures, places, and people, and most likely getting drunk quite a lot, I do actually like being productive now and again so this just seemed like the best way to do it.
Realistically, I need a way to remember all the fabulous things I will be doing. It’ll also be quite funny to look back on when I’m 40.
This is much easier than explaining to each relative and friend what I’ve got up to recently, instead I can just send them a link…

My initial year-out plan had been to start with 6 weeks in South-East Asia, followed by going back to London to earn a bit of money before heading to New Zeland and Australia for 6 months and finishing a couple weeks in Bali. I had also planned to go to India after a few weeks back in the UK to regain some energy.

Since then, this blog has evolved into something I add to every time I travel a new country. I won’t be able to take a full year out real life again soon but that doesn’t mean I can’t travel.

If you’ve made it to the end of this, welcome! Follow along for handy-tips and tricks and for the good, the bad and the ugly of what travelling really involves.