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2023 Travelling trip
  • Amy Firth
  • Thomas Baxter

2023 Travelling trip

After years of conversations, saving and planning, we set off on our adventure on NYE 2022 and landed in Bangkok ready for 5 and a half months of adventure. Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 1, 2023
  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Bangkok

    January 1, 2023 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We arrived in Bangkok after pretty seamless flights through Dubai. Transfer from the airport to hotel icon was much the same as 2019 - fast, chaotic. We were welcomed by the iconic gateway "Welcome to Thailand, land of smiles". We arrived at Hotel Icon which was exactly as we remember it but with addition of a cannabis kiosk outside and no welcome drink or cold flannel post covid. We had arranged to meet Amy's cousin Oliver and his wife Nell who live in Bangkok. We left the hotel after a quick shower approx 10pm and walked to Nana red light district. Despite feeling tired we had a good few drinks in various bars and ended the night with an apparently famous toastie from 7 Eleven for 27 Baht (70p). We returned to the hotel 2am and went to bed.

    The flowing day, we woke up at 5am, apparently due to time difference to back home. We struggled to get back to sleep so we headed out early for breakfast. City was pretty quiet as it was a national holiday. We found a cool cafe called Sarnies, full of young affluent locals enjoying coffee and breakfast. Tom was feeling quite ill so we decided to walk back to hotel, via a huge luxury shopping centre on way back. We got to hotel and crashed out asleep. Later we headed out for dinner and had Tom Yum from a local restaurant. We Walked down to Nana District again and revisited bars we went to in 2019.

    Our third and last day in Bangkok this time around, still not feeling 100% with cold & flu. We walked out for breakfast and back to hotel for check out at 12. We chilled in the rooftop bar area until it was time to head to train station for our overnight sleeper train to Chaing Mai. Amy found a popular restaurant which apparently cashes in on tourists who arrive in advance for trains so we headed there for something to eat before the train. The owner was extremely friendly and fun. We sat with two young guys and an older couple who were from UK, St Anne's. It was nice to chat with fellow travellers and compare plans.    Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Chiang Mai Round 1

    January 3, 2023 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    We got the 18.15 "express" sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. This particular train is the most modern and comfortable, popular with tourists and locals alike. Tom was very excited about this after staying up until 1.30am back home to try and book first class with no luck; we ended up in second class but it was still good! Toilets were clean, it was nice and private but the lights were far too bright. Tom wasn't as romantic as the couple opposite us who were prepared with fairy lights! Overall the train journey was a good experience, although the price is actually more expensive than a domestic flight which takes a fraction of the time. We arrived at Chiang Mai just after 7am and took a red taxi (or 'Songthaew') to our hotel. It was far too early to check in, so we had a few hours to kill. We spent the day exploring the street food stalls around Chiang Mai and in particular noticed that all the fruit was huge, on steroids compared to home! We grabbed a very reasonable breakfast of fried eggs topped with scrambled tofu and spring onions, it was delicious and very cheap. We checked into our hotel in the afternoon and had a nap as we were pretty knackered. This was a slight error as we realised that restaurants tended to close fairly early here - and we had not yet discovered the night market.

    We spent the next day at the elephant rescue centre. This was amazing, I love elephants! We fed them, walked with them and bathed them. We learnt about where they're rescued from, unfortunately though it was too busy for our liking!

    Our third day we spent completing a self-guided walking tour which mainly consisted of temples. We a then met up with Amy's friend Vicky and her boyfriend Tom, which was good fun. Unfortunately the night market had run out of the recommended gyozas!    Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Mae Hong Son

    January 7, 2023 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    The following day did not start well. We had pre-booked the 10:30am bus from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son. The buses in Thailand are often just small minivans, so we were anticipating a rough ride. Firstly, we woke up late after a few too many drinks with friends the night before, and subsequently missed the bus! Tom also realised he'd lost his travel pillow and eye mask in the furore of trying to get to the station on time. Disaster. We booked a new ticket but this bus wasn't until 13:30 which meant we had 3 hours to kill at the bus station. Additionally, the only available seats were the back two which we'd read were the worst available and to avoid at all costs. Dejected, we trudged off to find Wi-Fi and hopefully some breakfast. Time passed relatively quickly and we boarded the bus. Our luggage was tentatively strapped to the roof of the minivan and we crossed our fingers for its safe passage. The journey seemed to start OK, but once we got out of the city we soon started on the 1864 hairpin bends and Amy in particular was feeling very ill! 7 hours later, after the roller-coaster ride, shaken, and exhausted, we arrived at our hostel which Amy had booked and was quite proud of it being super cheap; expectations were low. The owner was really cute and gave us a hand drawn map of the town and pointed out the main things to see. As we were feeling quite weary, we went straight to bed, not really up for exploring. The following day we had a walk around the town which was very quiet and laid back. We also took a detour to the bus station to ensure we knew exactly what we were doing the following day to get our bus back to Pai - we didn't want a repeat of the previous day. In the evening we hiked up to Wat Phra Phat where we saw lots of locals using the steep steps for their daily exercise. We spent some time on top of the hill admiring the Buddhist temples and taking in the views. We waited for sunset and headed back down town for the night market/walking street. The lakeside road had been completely closed off and was now full with street vendors. This could have been the best street food yet as there was so much variety and it was so cheap! Lots of locals were sat on the low tables next to the lake. We bought from a few different stalls including gyoza, stuffed chillis , pork and chicken skewers etc. It was all delicious.
    Our final day we left Mae Hong Son to battle the hairpins to Pai - fortunately this was only half way back to Chiang Mai and therefore a lot fewer bends.    Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Pai

    January 9, 2023 in Thailand

    We got the bus back to Pai and the journey was much better than before. Our accommodation wasn't the best but the woman was cute and we got our first round of laundry done! We got a bike for the first time here and unfortunately Tom had an accident straight away but luckily he was fine other than a cut knee. We'd bumped into vicky etc again then set off on an exploring day. We went to Pai Canyon but the heights were scary and we didn't make it all the way round. We met a couple from Liverpool and that night ended up going to a ridiculous 'rave' in the middle of nowhere. The next day we treat ourselves to our first Thai massage and then did the pub quiz and came fourth (robbed!) Pai was super chilled, we really liked the vibe and the food and wished we'd had longer there!Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Chiang Mai (Round 2)

    January 12, 2023 in Thailand ⋅ 🌩️ 30 °C

    We really liked Chiang Mai but hadn't completed everything we wanted to so we came back for 3 more nights. We stayed somewhere different this time. We booked a day trip to go to the highest point in Thailand, Doi Inthanon, saw an amazing Waterfall which had a rainbow and did the Kew Mae Pan trail which we absokutely loved, the views were amazing! We stopped at the night Market which was pretty overwhelming as it was never ending and so many people but we saw everybody stop for the national anthem which was cool.Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Chiang Rai

    January 15, 2023 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We got the bus to Chiang Rai and unfortunately I was ill for most of my time here. This was my least favourite hotel due to a very unfortunate bathroom smell and my first sightings of rats! The place felt scruffier compared to Chiang Mai but it was fun to see the clock tower which has a light and music show 3 times a day at the roundabout! We managed to complete the sights on our final day with a private tuktuk with the stand out temple being the white temple which was amazing.Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Chiang Khong

    January 18, 2023 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    We got the bus From Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong and spent a night there. We finally got rid of the bad smells but we were kept up by roosters all night long! In the morning, the owner of the hotel drove us to the border with an early start of 7am!Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Slowboat Day 1 - Houay Xai to Pak Beng

    January 19, 2023 in Laos ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today we crossed the border from Thailand into Laos. We had booked the Shompoo Cruise slow boat which took 2 days to get from the Thai/Laos border into Luang Prabang down the Mekong River. The first day involved travelling to a small village called Pak Beng. We were served local Laos food on the boat which was delicious and learnt a lot about the country from our guide, Mr Sen. We visited a village and settled into our lovely hotel for the night. We met an older couple from England who now live in the UK along with another couple who were travelling for their honeymoon and a dutch couple. Overall the first day was really relaxing with some stunning scenery down the river.Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Slowboat Day 2 - PB to Luang Prabang

    January 20, 2023 in Laos ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    The second day on the slow boat started off freezing! We had basically the same meal for lunch as we'd had at the hotel the night before and it was delicious cooked by the captain's wife. We visited a whiskey village an Tom tasted some and we learnt how they make it. Luang Prabang was lovely as we're the Laos people! We enjoyed beer laos, had lovely coffee, saw a band on at the street Market and met up with friends from the slow boat as well as meeting Rachel and Aron! We found out about the infamous bowling alleys but never experienced one! We had our first swimming experience at Kung Si waterfalls which were beautiful with an underwhelming hike. We saw the bear sanctuary and made 2 new friends, Cilla and Adam.Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Vang Vieng

    January 23, 2023 in Laos ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    We arrived in Vang Vieng and it was scruffy compared to Luang Prabang. Our room wasn't very clean and the fridge stunk so we hated our first night. The next day we got moved and had a lazy day by the pool. We met up with friends in the evening for sunset and food. The next day was the best day where we went Tubing and made 2 more friends. We went to happy mango for dinner which was delicious and celebrated toms birthday in the Irish bar.Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Hanoi

    January 26, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    From Vang Vieng we decided to get the bus to Vientiane and fly into Hanoi for Tom's birthday. We stayed in a proper hotel with lovely pillows, went for some lovely food, had a day on a bike tour and experienced beer street. I was ready for some much needed peace after 3 days on the streets here!Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Cat Ba

    January 30, 2023 in Vietnam

    We arrived in Cat Ba after travelling on bus, boat and bus again. The journey took about 4 hours and was really easy. When we arrived we had Blackpool vibes and it's clear this is where locals come for their summer holidays. Many hotels and restaurants were closed and it was FREEZING 🥶! I was tempted with the fake North face jackets. Our hostel was fine, nice and big but the bathroom was outside! We were woken early morning with a Cockerell and dog having an argument. We rented a scooter and got some petrol via a water bottle and set off to Cat Ba national park and completed the hike of Dinh Nhu Lam. It was steep climb with some scrambling but we were greeted with some amazing views of the scenery! We then went and had an accidental private sunset tour of Lan Ha Bay which was beautiful and quiet! We saw the floating villages and was amazed at the dogs living on the houses and saw a few treadmills on there! We saw school children in their tracksuit uniforms getting the bus back to their homes. We went back to bigman bar where we met Rachel and Aaron for our last night on Cat Ba Island and their first.Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Cat Ba to Hoi An

    January 31, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Our final morning in Cat Ba, we woke up to what sounded like major building work in our hostel, so quickly ventured out for breakfast. This was enjoyed on some more child like seats, but we both had a meal today unlike yesterday! We left Cat Ba Island and were bound for Haiphong Airport; we had booked a flight to Da Nang in order to get to Hoi An in time to meet up with Amy's Uncle Rick and Auntie Pam. The journey to Haiphong was organised by Good Morning Cat Ba was impeccable once again; a short bus ride to the ferry pier, quick speedboat crossing and into a private taxi to the airport. We arrived on schedule and met our pre booked taxi driver who whisked us off to Hoi An.Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Hoi An (First Night)

    February 1, 2023 in Vietnam

    We arrived at our hotel in Hoi An around 8pm. We were greeted by a very cute, cuddly puppy and a lovely, clean spacious room with a river view! This felt. like luxury after out last stay, and we were both very happy. We took a 15 minute walk into the old town area; we crossed the bridge and saw all the beautiful lanterns across the river. What a lovely welcome to Hoi An. We picked up some grilled pork bread (think pate on baguette over a grill) on the way to meet Uncle Rick and Auntie Pam! We met them for drinks at Tiger Tiger bar before heading back over the river for food. We got the local dish called Quang noodles, which were very reasonably priced at 49000 dong (£1.68!) and were very tasty! Back to our hotel after a fun evening, Oh!...and not a jumper in sight! 🙂Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Hoi An Day 2 - Cycle to An Bang Beach

    February 1, 2023 in Vietnam

    Today we rented bicycles from our hotel which had a cute basket on the front, Amy's dream! We set off on our cycle to Cam Thanh Rice Fields and stopped off for a coffee. Amy had a coconut milkshake which was deeeelicious! We continued onto the vegetable village which was full of very neat and pretty allotments! Along the way we saw ducks and water buffalo grazing in the rice fields. We continued our cycle all the way to An Nang Beach to catch up with Uncle Rick and Aunt Pam.Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Hoi An Day 2 - An Bang Beach

    February 1, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    We spent a lovely afternoon on the beach where Tom paid a trip to the sea. Stupidly, we both ended up with burnt backs! 😭 We got talked into buying 2 bracelets for 150 dong! Once we finally located the woman to pay, we set off back to get showered and visit the river. I'd read that the 1st was a special day and the electric lanterns were swapped but disappointingly, it looked no different! We headed back to meet Rick and Pam where aunty Pam was of course already deep in the wine! We went for a great meal called An Bang beach village. We had delicious wontons, home made chilli sauce and this amazing red snapper in turmeric which was huge! The place was ran by the cutest man who had old music which he listened to on the Fisher boat and it was a family run business. Strange part was the toilets with koi fish in which you could feed. I'd say it competed with if not best the happy mango meal!Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Rainy Day

    February 3, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    A day late as yesterdsy was not a good day! Id spent the night once again with stomach cramps and woke with a bad stomach and feeling very weak. Luckily we had no plans and it was raining so Tom cycled into town and got his laptop fixed, hooray! I spent the dsy in bed until about 6pm when we went out to get our best banh mis yet! It was an early night and we finally got to get netflix working. Let's hope for a better day today.Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Cooking Tour

    February 4, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    We ended up changing our cooking tour from the morning to afternoon after meeting up with Aron and Rachel. Unfortunately the market part wasn't as good as it was basically closed as that time people rest, make food for their family or sleep. We then had a trip on the basket boats with a Vietnamese woman whilst we wore the hats which are amazing! They were fun boats which we found out they make because of the wind so they don't capsize like the long boats. We saw a fisherman who threw the net out and then had a go at catching a crab ourselves. We weren't successful but the lady caught one instantly. The cooking class was then really good as it was private but Mr Hai picked on me all the time and praised Tom and asked if he was a chef. The spring rolls were amazing!Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Hai Van Pass

    February 5, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We used easy rider to travel the hai van pass. We stopped at marble Mountain, beach for lunch (expensive!) and a waterfall for a swim. We were both really tired by the end of it but saw many things along the way including a big pig on the back of a scooter.Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Hue

    February 6, 2023 in Vietnam

    We had one day to explore Hue and our minds were preoccupied with the visa dilemma but we had a walk to the imperial city, went to a royal tomb and visited a pagoda. We then got a 'private' boat tour back to the town which actually meant we had to walk another half an hour. We went to a French restaurant for tea which uncle Rick recommended, but madam thu the night before was better and cheaper! However, we drowned our sorrows with a bottle of wine and listened to classic Asian beats in DMZ.Read more

  • 2023 Travelling trip

    Da Nang

    February 7, 2023 in Vietnam

    We arrived in Da Nang after a 2hr, bouncy as hell bus journey on the 'limousine' 🙄. We found an Australian beach front restaurant and treat ourselves to some yummy burgers and then decided to have an hour on the beach... So the weather decided to cloud over 🙈 we found a lady who would do our express washing for 20K a kg. Great except I lost a sock and my face pad! We ate at a japanese restaurant and the highlight were the croquettes with shrimp inside. This was following a world wide trek in search of an ATM!Read more

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