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South East Asia

February 2024 - June 2025
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An open-ended adventure by Sam Read more
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  • TravelerSouth East Asia

    Day 67

    April 12, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Hanoi

    I went for some breakfast at a popular Banh Mi place called "Banh Mi 25". I tried going yesterday but there was a big queue as it was lunch time but I was slightly earlier so managed to avoid the crowds. The Banh Mi was good of course but I don't think it was any better than any other Banh Mi place so I'm not sure why it's so popular. Yesterday at the train street a couple suggested I visited the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh is embalmed. Thinking it would be pretty cool to see such a prominent figure, I ordered a grab and headed over there. After finding the entrance I realised I had forgot that I needed to wear trousers so I had to go back to the hostel then back to the mausoleum. Somewhat unluckily it seemed that 5 busses full of tourists had arrived just before I got back and now instead of a zero length queue I had to wait about for a while. Atleast on the ride over I got go wear some funky looking goggles so not a total loss.

    Eventually I passed through security and had a little walk around the grounds first. The first stop was the Ho Chi Minh Museum which was a cool looking building but seemed very closed. After that, I had a look round the 1 pillar pagoda which had a line of tourists waiting to check it out. I then went for the mausoleum which was grand and majestic but turns out you can only go inside before 11am which was a bit of a shame. Afterwards I was able to pay a little bit more to walk around the grounds of the Presidential Palace as well as the home of Ho Chi Minh. The buildings were painted a beautiful yellow and you also got to see the small collection of beautiful cars that he owned in his garage, sat right next to a quaint lake.

    Afte that I got my 4th Grab of the day and headed back into town for the Note Cafe - a popular café where every surface is filled with post it notes where guests can write or draw whatever they want. I didn't expect it to be as colourful inside as it was - yet again beautiful in its own way. I ordered an egg coffee and a slice of cheesecake as I had gone this whole time without trying the famous Vietnamese egg coffee. As someone who thinks coffee is fine - this was also just fine. Also, the waiter who was Vietnamese had a very cockney accent and used so much British slang I couldn't tell if he was doing it to be funny but it turns out he has a lot of English friends and that's the accent that he picked up. After leaving a few notes of my own, I headed our and ran some errands around town as I needed to top up on some essentials.

    Hanoi is known for its water puppet show and it was fairly inexpensive so I thought I'd book an 8pm showing. I showed up, and paid a little extra for an English audio guide, then sat down and got ready for the show. The show tells a story of Vietnamese history and culture through the use of live musicians and a central water pool where there were various puppets doing there thing. It's quite hard to describe it but it was cool to hear the history and story of Hanoi and the mythical creatures through such a unique medium. Plus the music was really cool as they were playing instruments I had never seen before.

    Afterwards, I grabbed some dinner at a random restaurant where I was lucky enough to be sitting near a busker playing saxophone. He played some awesome renditions of popular songs and before I could go up to him and say how much I enjoyed it, he left as quickly as he came.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    2

    Day 66

    April 11, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Hanoi

    I woke up bright and early if bright and early meant midday and slowly gathered myself for some breakfast - well I guess lunch. I wasn't too hard on myself as I knew I needed good rest to not end up exhausted. Plus I was in absolutely no rush. I went to a small Banh Mi place closeby and as always it was super yummy. I kind of wanted to spend today exploring, and as most of the things are in the old quarter and walkable I could just wander about.

    My first stop was the Hoan Kiem Lake in the middle of town. I seem to have a bit of a habit of finding the closest lake in a city and walking around it but how could I not especially when there was a floating pagoda right in the middle. Unfortunately though it was super busy and filled with people trying to clean your shoes (honestly mine could use a scrub but I'd rather not), and sell you stuff (I met a nice guy who "wanted to practice his English" but ended up wanting to sell me bracelets to fund his travels).

    Hanoi is famous for its train street but during the week there are only trains during the night so I'd have to wait until later but in the mean time I could go along the track for a little bit and find the Street Murals - artwork confined to the arches under the railway. They each had their own style as well as a sign explaining their significance - really cool! I then followed the train track down (in the wrong direction initially) until I got to the Long Bien Bridge - a fairly historically significant bridge joining the 2 sides of Hanoi together over the river. I ventured through a very local housing estate to try and get a good view. I didn't get a good view of the bridge but I got a great glimpse into the lives of the kids playing in the park, playing badminton in the street, and 8 year olds riding scooters. I ended up going to a rooftop café and whilst I still didn't get a great view of the bridge I got a pretty decent view of the city.

    The train was "scheduled" through train street at 7 but they're famously late or cancelled but I wanted to get a good seat and chill for a while so I ended up getting there about 6.30 and found a trackside seat with a good looking smoothie. I also grabbed some doughnut pieces off a street vendor to snack on and then patiently waited. The street itself was really nice, with lights and decorations. The first train ended up not coming so I waited for the 8.30 one. When it was close, sirens went off and the café owners went into crowd control making sure no one was to take an unplanned and painful train ride. Unfortunately as it was dark and the train had its lights on I didn't get any fantastic pictures so I just stood there and took in the train passing inches from my face. Once it cleared, people clappes then life returned to normal for the cafés and everyone quickly went on their way.

    Today I was determined to eat at the Michellin place I had went for yesterday so I turned up at the right place and had a look at the menu. This place specialised in sea food and they had so many choices and I'm sure they were lovely but weren't quite as budget as I hoped. I ended up going for some black shrimp noodles and a couple oysters. It was honestly fine but I don't think I'm a massive sea food guy especially for the price. I wandered back and called it a night.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia

    Day 65

    April 10, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Trang An & Tam Coc > Hanoi

    After obligatory morning routine (breakfast + checkout) I headed over to the departure area for the boat tours, parked up and headed to the ticket office. Along with the Mua Cave thing I did yesterday, this boat tour is one of the must do's around Ninh Binh. There were the choice of 4 routes of varying length and sites but after some online research I went for the most popular route - route number 3.

    The boats were for people of groups of 4 so I had to wait a little bit to get paired with a group and I ended up being grouped with the 3 Californians who were behind me in the queue. I think they were all about 30 and working all over - and I was glad to be on the same boat as them especially as one of them spoke Vietnamese so they could easily talk with our boat guide.

    We cruised along the river on our hand rowed boat (which is so much more relaxing than the deafening rumble of a diesel engine) through the beautiful landscapes. We had a few different stops along the way including a few temples and a few caves. The "highlight" would have been the 1km long narrow cave where we had to dodge stalactites as we slowly meandered through. We fed some fish as well which they went absolutely crazy for and also passed through the 'famous' set of Kong Skull Island where Kong left a bloody handprint (I've not seen it so I wouldn't know).

    After the great trip I headed back into town to grab some lunch and quite last minute book my ticket to Hanoi. The guy at the hotel was a bit annoyed at me for not booking my bus ticket through him but to be honest he was a bit confusing with the language barrier so I went with old trusty 12Go. I said goodbye to Alfie and Daisy as they were staying another night and went to the pickup point for my journey to Hanoi. The journey was fine but I ended up changing bus twice for a grand total of 3 busses in only a 3 hour journey.

    When I arrived in Hanoi I checked into my 16 bed dorm (quite a step down from the previous 2 nights), then went out for a wander and some food. It was quite easy to get a feel for the old quarter especially as I was right in the centre of the touristy zone and that feel was busy and hectic. I end up using Michellin Guide to find somewhere to eat but in an embarrassing turn of events I accidently end up eating opposite where I had aimed to, in a slightly dodgy looking place. Feeling like an idiot I prepared to eat a mediocre meal. In reality I ended up having a super yummy Bun Cha (a grilled pork soup with a side of noodles for dipping) and have absolutely no regrets about my fuck up.

    On my wander back I grabbed some water and got offered a scooter taxi, a shoe shine, marijuana, and a prostitute in that order all within 30 seconds. I opted for some cheap cookies from the local shop instead and went back to my hostel to snack before bed.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia

    Day 64

    April 9, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Mua Cave & Ninh Binh

    After waking up at midday from a very late arrival last night I wasn't in a very big rush to get going - especially as I was chilling in my very own room which was glorious to wake up in. The host was nice enough to make me breakfast at 12.30pm where I had a decent omelette in a baguette with a very not decent mango juice. He was nice enough also to give me a map of all the nearby attractions and their prices which came in super useful. I rented a scooter and decided on Mua Cave as my first stop - which is ironically not known not for its cave but its staircase up the mountain.

    After a short scenic ride through the countryside, I headed down the road towards the entrance. I had read warnings about the pushy non official parking people but I didn't expect them to stand right in the middle of the road almost not even letting you pass to try and rip you off. I paid for my real parking and my real entrance ticket and wandered into the grounds. The first thing I checked out was this nice little koi pond that went under a small stone bridge. I ventured further and walked round the flower field. It was clear I had come in the wrong season as pictures showed a beautiful field of blooming flowers but I found a lightly flooded field of lily pads. Still, it was really nice especially with the surrounding mountains and made me excited to have my own garden one day (God I'm really starting to become an old man).

    I wandered around more and found a little lake with a lone pink flamingo pedal boat that was looking a bit worse for wear and I got my first view of the flag lined stone stairway leading up the mountain. I peaked into Mua Cave but it seemed fairly small and unimpressive, plus the floor was flooded so didn't really want to commit to soaking wet shoes for the whole day. I then started my ascent of the stone steps. It was fairly busy and it's always a nice ego boost to cruise past most people but I decided to take it slow and take in the views. This was a great benefit of being solo is you can spend as much time as you want doing whatever you want. It was pretty foggy and cloudy but it was still a phenomenal view of the surrounding limestone cliffs rising up from the green paddies. Plus there was a nice view of the river that snakes through the land.

    There were 2 different peaks at the top, one with a stupa on top, and another slightly higher with a pagoda and a stone dragon. The taller one was alot more popular and you could walk around the long dragon - with many people queuing to get a picture ontop of it. Walking down the body of the dragon was a fairly risky scramble with only a small chain to stop a very painful way down the side of the cliff and it amazed me to see how bold some not so able footed people were being and it blew my mind there weren't more accidents here especially when it was wet. Depsite the business I have never wanted to be able to paint landscapes more than I did in that moment.

    I made my way back down and went and got some Banh Mi from the restaurant on site. This was the first Banh Mi I had ever had where the bread had been toasted and was warm. It was closer than ever to being a yummier and cheaper Subway. So good! Having some time left before sunset, I made my way to Nimh Binh city as I thought I should check it out before leaving. I decided on a couple pagodas after a very quick choice on Google Maps, just needing to find my way into the city before being able to explore more. Turns out this was a great choice and I parked up then wandered over. I crossed a beautiful bridge with some colour lanterns overhead and my love of lanterns only grew more as I walked around the little quaint "mountain" finding a small temple on top before stumbling onto a coffee shop that was half built into the side of the rock.

    I then wandered out into the lake to check out the 2 huge pagodas built inline with one another and admired the beautiful carvings on the inside brick, the golden decorations on the high ceiling, and the religious statues sat in the centre. Honestly, it can be a little difficult to keep up with whether these temples are Hindu or Buddhist as there are plenty of both all over Vietnam so I'm probably using all of the wrong terminology. As the sunset the pagodas and lanterns really started to light up and show their true beauty over the lake which was lined in small wooden row boats, each with their own lanterns. I sat on the river side for a while just admiring where I was, knowing that it can be all too easy for me to quickly move on and forget how nice these places are. I walked around the adjacent ancient town for a little - finding a pick and mix shop so naturally I had to buy some sweets (they had mini chocolate eggs!!)

    After getting some more fuel I headed back to my hotel as driving at night is never too confidence inspiring on a scooter. I ended up heading out to a restaurant close by and ordered a beer to sip on whilst I waited for my appetite to come back after eating far too many of my sweets already. I then ordered some goat and rice which was one of the local foods. It was decent but definitely not my favourite meat - the seasoning was good though. I wandered back - grabbing an ice cream before showering and watching some YouTube in my very own room (I'm still not over the levels of joy having a hotel room is bringing me).    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    4

    Day 63

    April 8, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Phong Nha > Tam Coc

    We had decided on Paradise Cave as our cave of choice as it seemed to be the most accessible without a guide. After breakfast we headed out. The drive, again, was super scenic and it took us over this sketchy bridge which rattled as we drove over each lose metal plate. When we arrived we paid for parking, paid for entry then hopped into a golf buggy to the cave entrance. This cave was bloody humongous and was 31km long - the longest in the national park. Throughout the whole cave was a wooden walkway and lights making the whole cavern glow. The pathway didn't stretch very far into the 31km but for the small section we ventured through it was mighty impressive with such interesting rock structures. The only drawback of all the lights meant taking pictures became hard as it was often too bright. After our little adventure we made our way back and decided to grab some food from the restaurant at the entrance. It had started to get a little bit rainy so I moved our scooters under cover and whipped out my poncho that I had been carrying about for 2 months without any use (though it would have been super handy when we did the Alpine Coaster).

    The food was actually really good - though I am a sucker for fried noodles. It seems that the light rain showed no sign of easing as the whole sky became a fog of dismal grey - akin to 90% of winter in the UK, although I now realise it's definitely spring and may soon be nicer weather back home than here as rainy season approaches fast. We decided to head back to our homestay to avoid being caught out in any potential rain. After getting dangerously close to running out of fuel, I topped up and we scurried back home in our ponchos - really completing my astronaut look with my helmet.

    Our bus wasn't till half 9 and it was only 3 so we had some time to kill - so we went to a café nearby our hostel to chill for a while. I ended up going for a smoothie bowl even though I wasn't hungry atall and Daisy and I spent far too long building pyramids from playing cards. Daisy was so much better and faster than me but I managed to capture a picture of the exact moment her 5 tall pyramid collapsed as she placed her final card. We play some cards games too but eventually we're highly encouraged to pay and leave as they were shutting.

    We chill at our hostel for a bit before I go and grab some snacks for the journey and then we grab some dinner - even though none of us were that hungry - because we knew we would be on the bus otherwise. We go a close by vegan restaurant and I had some Korean sushi rolls called kimbap which were tasty and plentiful which sushi usually isn't. Unable to get a grab we walked to the pickup point where in some stroke of luck we were welcomed onto a luxury bus even though we definitely booked the cheap uncomfortable bus. Confused as to how we had won the transport lottery - we definitely didn't mention the possible mixup and enjoyed the journey.

    Well I say enjoyed the journey. I certainly did, it was the most comfortable bus we had been on so far and I watched some great YouTube before having a decent nap. We ended up arriving 3 hours before we were meant to at 3.30am where I had come to learn that Alfie and Daisy had had a horrible journey and both been very sick multiple times - suffering from food poisoning. It was too early to start the day anyway and they were both needing somewhere to stay so I went on the search for a place that was open. This was a physical search by the way, I wandered around various hostels, homestays, and hotels until I found an open reception. Little tip, when places put "24 hour reception" in their description they are lying to you 80% of the time. I eventually found a place and through Google translate communicated what we needed. I ended up with my very first private room in the entire trip and the others ended up with 2 double beds. It was about 5 or 6am by the time i had figured this out, collected keys, picked up my bags, showed Alfie and Daisy to their room, showered, then I promptly went to bed as the sun rose.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    11

    Day 62

    April 7, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    Phong Nha

    We decided we would take today easy and get a feel for the place as all of the cave tours were quite expensive and we weren't really sure what we wanted to see and if we even needed a cave tour to do it. So after a nice simple breakfast we headed rented a couple scooters and headed out. Whenever you rented a scooter it was always a gamble on how good the scooter would be. Sometimes they're pristine - which honestly is a bit worrying as you know they'll charge your ass for any little scratch. But usually somethings wrong with it. In this case, my bike had no working speedo which actually doesn't make all that difference especially when you're out of a city as there is no speed limit and if there was I certainly wasn't gonna reach it. Alfie's and Daisy's bike ended up without any working lights or fuel meter which I would say is are both fairly important. But, between the 2 of us we just about had a working bike.

    There's a little loop that goes around some of the local sites so we thought that we would go round and stop where we wanted. Our first stop was the duck stop. It's kind of hard to describe what the duck stop is but there is ALOT of ducks. When we arrived we got given some sandals to change into then our group is taken into a pen with more ducks than you can count. We stood in line whilst we had food thrown at our feet then the ducks would waddle over and peck the food from our feet which was such a weird sensation as you expect then to bite but they don't. Then we all had a go waddling around with the ducks with an army of loyal waddlers right behind. Then was the finale which was really weird. We sat on a bench and put our feet together and the handler dropped food inbetween our feet and on our lap so we had a bunch of beaks pekking around. Again, my mind told me it would hurt but in all honestly it was a very odd tickling sensation as they nibbled the soles of your feet. All I can say is that no one could stop themselves from laughing.

    After that, we had signed up to see Donald Trump... the buffalo. He used to be used for hard labour in the fields and now lived a peaceful life. However, he didn't have alot of room to wander freely and the person offered for us to ride him. We declined as we weren't really sure how ethical it was and decided to pet him instead. Included in our entry ticket was also food, where we were given egg pancakes and vegetables to wrap in rice paper. Overall it was super nice and I wish there were more of it.

    Our next stop was a nature reserve but when we got there it was clear that I had been shut for a while and no one was there so we decided against exploring and on to the next stop which was the Botanic Garden. The Botanic Garden wasn't really much of a Garden as you might expect by the name but it was still a nice walk through the jungle. A couple of spots we stopped at were the swimming hole (very mundane), the waterfall (pretty but the swimming was still quite mundane) and the viewpoint (good but the trees covered most of the view). By the end we were pretty hungry so we stopped at the restaurant outside and enjoyed some surprisingly cheap yummy food and drink. They had this winter melon flavoured tea which tasted exactly like you had left a Nice biscuit in a cup of tea too long. It was very odd but kind of nice at the same time.

    We didn't have too much time to stop anywhere else after that so we decided just to ride the rest of the loop and head back before it got dark as riding in the dark without working headlights seemed to be quite high on the list of Darwin Awards. It was very nice driving through the valleys, past the rivers, and under the cliffs - rivalling the Hai Van Pass we had done a few days earlier.

    We had signed up for the family dinner so we chilled for a while before realising that there was neither family nor dinner waiting for us. A little bit confused we ended up having to go to the other building a few minutes away which we never knew existed where a much more bustling hostel laid. We were chucked at the end of the table and served some lovely food. After some good grub and an interesting chat with a Dutch man where it was revealed everything I knew about eating and drinking were wrong. We wandered to the shop for some snacks before heading back and chilling before hitting the hay.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia

    Day 61

    April 6, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Da Nang > Phong Nha

    Very uneventful day. We woke up, packed our stuff and checked out. We wandered about and found some Banh Mi, before having some time to kill so we found a little café by the river and I had what was called a "custard shake". Curious to if it had anything to do with English custard I had to try it. It definitely wasn't custard and I have no idea what it was but it was very okay, with some chunks of coconut in there to keep me occupied.

    We trekked back to the hostel to pick up our bags then headed to the bus station. Our bus was scheduled at 2 and we ended up waiting on some miniature seats for another 50 minutes for our bus to actually turn up. Atleast it turned up though. We picked our seats and got ready to settle in for a long journey. Turns out settling in was not in the plan as when we arrived at Hue, we had to change bus with only a quick stop allowed for the bathroom. We boarded our new bus which was pretty much similar but had a toilet on board. Great I thought to myself. That was until the first person flushed the toilet and created what can only be described as a gas chamber choking us with the scent on their shit. And then every single time someone flushed after that, it'd leave a sickening aroma in the air for about 5 minutes. I got a bit of rest but managed to run out of my daily allowance for data. Somehow I burned througy 5GB in 24 hours. Then I remembered I was up till 3am the night before and must have been on my data the whole time... oops. Luckily I had some music downloaded and spent the rest of the time making packing lists - how exciting.

    We stopped at a rest stop for a little while and got some very questionable food before hopping back on and eventually arriving. We got picked up from the road by our hostel - with Alfie giving them "bright yellow shorts" as a description to look out for. When we arrived we were all quite tired so headed to bed fairly quickly.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia

    Day 60

    April 5, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Hue

    After getting some breakfast we rented a couple scooters from our hostel as today we were planning on driving to Hue. Now we weren't really that fussed about going to Hue but the journey involved a mountain ride through the Hai Van Pass. After heading out we started to get some beautiful views over the beach and sea next to us down from the mountain pass. I didn't take any photos but as Daisy was on the back of Alfie's scooter she managed to get some.

    It wasn't long before we were ascending into the mist and for most the ride we were enveloped in a very eerie feeling fog that honestly reminded me of North Wales. The pass unfortunately didn't last very long but it was quite a nice ride. What wasn't a nice ride was the main road from the end of the pass to Hue. Don't get me wrong there wasn't anything wrong in particular but it was a long straight road with not alot of views. What was quite cool is the alternative Vietnam and Communist flag that lined the central divider for what must have been kilometers upon kilometers.

    When we arrived we didn't really know what we were doing so we found somewhere for lunch. That was closed so we wandered about until we found somewhere that was open where we enjoyed a very average meal. After that we headed towards the Ancient City, one of Hue's biggest attraction. There were a few different options with different sights and tombs but we weren't really too fussed so we paid for out parking, I grabbed a lovely blueberry smoothie and we headed in. The whole grounds were quite nice but if I'm being honest I was so hot that I kind of just lounged about most of the day, moving a bit before sitting down for a while again. It was a nice mix of ancient buildings, and nice gardens, which if I were an artist would be a great subject for a painting.

    We didn't want to drive back in the dark so we headed out around 4 and made our way back. The flag road was just as long but the pass went by quicker as we weren't stopping for views as much. We got back into town just as it got dark, returned our scooters and went out for some dinner. Alfie and Daisy got an early night whilst I spent hours until early in the morning obsessing about different tents on Marketplace (still addicted).    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    3

    Day 59

    April 4, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Ba Na Hills

    After waking up and leaving about 7am we got a Grab from Hoi An over to Da Nang which took about 40 minutes. Our driver asked us what our plans were for the day and we said Ba Na Hills and he offered to take us there and back. Sweet we thought, he seemed like a nice guy and we wouldn't have to worry about finding a driver and not being able to get back. We quickly dropped our stuff off at our hostel and grabbed a quick Banh Mi for breakfast before we made the hour long drive over to Ba Na Hills.

    When we arrived, our driver took us to the ticket office (possibly to get a commission?) and we were ready to rumble. After getting his WhatsApp and talking about his 70km run he did a few years ago, it was time. Ba Na Hills is a bit of a theme park but also a tourist destination - a real mix of things. First and foremost, there was a 5771 meter long cable car that took you to the top of the hill which I think is the longest in the world? We hopped in and took it the oddly quiet views over the dense jungle below. I was very excited to be honest, it felt like I was at Thorpe Park all over again.

    Map ready, I studied a possible route for the day. We started in Spiritual Zone which was filled with nice little temples, pagodas, and even a tea room. What really sealed the deal was the robot who's sole purpose was to hit a big ass bell every now and again. What a job. Plus the pagoda gave a nice view over the French Village. The French Village was kind of at the centre of the whole park, and by French Village what they really mean is imagine you're inside Lord Farquad's Castle from Shrek and boom you're there. Still though, the stone buildings were really nice and very aesthetic. We managed to catch the tail end of a show in the centre of the plaza which was a bunch of people in tight black leather dancing around with whips to the beat of different songs (no its not what it sounds like).

    Within the French Village was Fantasy Park! This was the entirely indoors theme park type thing. Themed entirely like the inside of a volcano, there were 3 floors and the centre was a drop tower and a rock climbing wall with a large glass dome shining light down from above. We decided to work our way top down so that we wouldn't miss anything. Honestly it was all pretty gimmicky but still alot of fun. Highlights include a journey through Jurassic Park, a 4D movie, a 5D movie, a spinning swing thing, and bumper carts. And then we got hungry so we had a break from the action and went to find the least overpriced food we could find. I settled for an expensive BBQ chicken pizza which was pretty good, plus I got some nice views over a fancy fountain and a medieval style market. Righto back to the intense action of Fantasy Park. There wasn't alot left to do so me and Alfie got on the central drop tower, looking over the rock climbing wall (which you had to pay for so we skipped that one). We also enjoyed a whole load of free arcade kind of games (think the type you'd find in a bowling alley) then queued for the final ride "Journey to the Centre of the World". After 30 minutes and a brief appreciation of Josh Hutcherson, we were let down by a shitty shooter ride.

    After Fantasy Park we moved on to the next section, towards the Palace. This bit was a lot less busy but had some very cool looking castles as well as some very awesome looking rock carvings. Well they weren't really carvings so rock sculptures made to look like carvings? I'm not sure but they were super bad ass. After a non successful breaking and entering attempt into a castle, we hopped on a cable car down to the next section. This was where the "main attraction" was - the thing that most people came to see - the golden bridge. A golden bridge suspended by 2 massive hands. It was also where everyone liked to get their main character pictures and videos which is always funny to watch. It was quite cool and I've seen pictures where the bridge is enveloped in fog which gives a really cool mystical aura. The other areas in this section were also super nice, lots of nice sculptures, structures, gardens, as well as a big white Buddha that looked over the mountains. It was also around sunset now and we got some really nice views of the castles in the distance.

    After that, we texted our driver that we were heading down and hopped on the cable car back down to where we started. We passed some nicely lit walkways and found our driver and headed back to our hostel. After that we went out for some food - where I had some very fancy looking dumplings (gold leaf on top!?) as well as something else that was new that I can't remember the name for. We headed back via a shop where I brought a dark chocolate tolberone for only like £2 then we went for a swim on the rooftop pool overlooking the lit city.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth East Asia
    1

    Day 58

    April 3, 2024 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    An Bang Beach

    Wake up, get another Banh Mi Queen for breakfast (this time a BBQ instead of the traditional), do another fitting for Daisy's clothes then grab a taxi to the beach. I'm gonna be honest I did almost nothing except for lounge on the sunbed under the shade of the umbrella and occasionally go for a swim (the water was actually surprisingly cold when you first hopped in). We made a huge trek for lunch (about 10 meters away) and I ordered another set of the local fried wonton, this time getting them with shrimp as I think that's how you're meant to have them. They were - of course - super tasty and I tried a mixed fruit lassi (yoghurt based drink) which was - of course - super tasty. Then, back to the beach before grabbing a taxi back and picking up Daisy's final clothes which she seemed super happy with.

    We head back and I shower to remove the buckets of sand from within my swim shorts, then we head out for some dinner. The most well known local cuisine isn't actually the fried wontons but these White Rose dumplings. There is exactly 1 restaurant that makes these in Hoi An and they supply any other restaurant with them every day. There is only 1 option to have them and it's a family secret recipe. So, for our last dinner here I really wanted to go to this restaurant and try them straight from the source. When we arrived their menu consisted of only 2 items, shrimp wonton and shrimp white roses. Daisy couldn't get the white rose without shrimp but she got some fried wontons. Alfie and I went for the white rose and after a little mixup I eventually got my plate. We were given some sort of chilli sauce / oil with it and they were covered in fried shallots. They were yummy but to be honest I prepared the wontons - but would definitely not complain if I were to have them again.

    I fancied some dessert as the white roses weren't too filling and we happened to pass a gelato place that did a 21 flavour tasting plater. Now I am 2 things: a cheapskate and a sweet tooth and today was finally the day where my cravings out played my savings and I went for it. It was towards the end of the day so I ended up only getting 14 flavours plus sides of strawberry, mango, waffle, brownie, and chocolate sauce. Much like the way I ate my pizza yesterday I took my time, focusing on each flavour. Unfortunately I had to try and work out each one but it was still a great experience to slowly try small segments of beautiful gelato. I liked most of them, love alot of them, was okay with the coffee one but absolutely despised the durian flavoured one. The bad thing about frozen food is it tends to melt so towards the end I had to battle against the slosh forming. Unfortunately the durian leaked into the multi flavoured mixture of melted gelato and overpowered the others but I still got a good few individual tastes in before the great melting of 2024. I finished up my sides and chocolate sauce before leaving full and extremely satisfied.

    I head back, and meet the other 2 at the night market before heading to bed.    Read more

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