• Flying back

    18 ottobre 2023, Inghilterra

    Check into our flight was a little sticky for me. I thought I had lost my portable charger during the trip. Turns out, I did not. It was in the bottom of my bag, and I got pulled into security to find it. But I got there eventually and ended up getting through security easy enough.

    Before the flight, I was feeling a little hungry, so I bought some food before we hopped on board. The first flight was ok. I watched a movie while we got food, then fell asleep.

    Once landed in Doha, we had a 20-minute bus ride to the terminal. Then we had to go through security again, and I got my drink taken from me. Then, we went through another security check-in and got stopped once more. I was a random check, apparently, but it's just so annoying. Had another rest before the second flight and then slept a lot of that flight, too.

    Landing into Gatwick was nice and simple. Caught a bit of the pretty sunrise as we made our way from the terminal to the train station. Mum picked us up from the train station, and I headed home for the first time in a year and a bit.
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  • A day in Hanoi

    17 ottobre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Our final day in Vietnam and our only proper day in Hanoi. We began with a coffee and history tour of the French sector. Dad finally found a coffee that he liked, why it was egg coffee, I have no clue. The tour was a lot of fun and we learnt a lot about the history of the city and the architecture of the French Quarter.

    After wandering around the city a little, we got on one of the hop on hop off buses and spent an hour or so driving around the city looking at it all. The audio was patchy at times, but it was fun to see the city from another way.

    Once off the bus, we made our final trip down to our hotel. We had about an hour to have a shower and get ourselves together before the flight.

    Our driver was nice but ended up being yet another person who asked if dad and I her a couple. Which is just uncomfortable. And unfortunately, it's not been uncommon.
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  • Final evening

    16 ottobre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Our final evening was spent on the bus on the way back to Hanoi. Dad and I were in the front seats, so we got an insane view of the sun setting over the city.

    We hopped off the bus earlier than we were supposed to because we were only a block away from our hotel. Checking in, we made our way up to have a drink on the roof with the tail end of the sun set.

    We found somewhere for Banh Mi for finner and I went for another massage to end my day.
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  • Ha Long Bay

    14–16 ott 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Our mini bus arrived nice and early at 7,30am, and we headed off towards Ha Long Bay. We had to wake up at 6 for breakfast up in the bar so we could eat before we left.

    The bus took quite a while, and we ended up arriving in the harbour at 11 a.m., after going for quite a while. Our boat was at 12, so we had to wait for a little bit. We thought the harbour would have some snacks, but they had very little available, so that was a pain.

    The accommodation is insane. A floating collecting of buildings in the middle of nowhere. Practically silent, the place is a perfect end to our trip. 2 days of relaxation in the sun.

    On the first evening, a load of us took a swim in the dark. The water was full of bioluminesence, making it seem like we were swimming through the stars. It was so much fun. The food was pretty similar but still nice. We took a journey in one of the kayaks around the island next to us.

    We didn't actually do nuch, but it was good. A nice final few days.
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  • Back in Hanoi

    13–14 ott 2023, Vietnam

    After travelling from Cao Bang to Thac Ba Lake, we stayed the night on the lake side. The journey was fine until the final 40 minutes, which was currently under construction road. That part was unnerving and painful, Dad was having a great time, and I was not.

    The lake was nice but our accommodation was not as we had thought when booked. There was no view of the lake and overpriced for the dinner and breakfast.

    And then, our final day of riding was upon us. One long journey south from the lake towards Hanoi. Thankfully, Hanoi was large enough that there were signs almost the entire way, making the ride nice and easy. The roads were all large and accommodating, making for a long but ok ride.

    The final hour as we reached the outskirts of Hanoi was rough. Traffic plus the pure size and chaos of the city was tiring. I ended up feeling very uncomfortable when we were back in the city, probably due to what happened the last time, and was very thankful for our eventual arrival at Style.

    Dropping off the bikes was bitter sweet. I was pleased because the trip has been so exhausting but sad because it has also been incredible.

    We made our way by grab from Style to our hotel, had a drink during sunset on the roof top bar, headed to a very nice vegetarian place for dinner and then had a massage in the hotel.
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  • Cao Bang

    11–13 ott 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Our accommodation in this beautiful part of the country is a townhouse on the outskirts of the city. The owner is the daughter of a military man and gifted the land by the government after the war. Everything in the area is owned by him and his family, built from nothing.

    I was not feeling great yesterday, so I had a rest before our hosts cooked us dinner. Once again, excellent food and speaking to them was a great insight into life in rural Vietnam. Both work for the government and clearly have more than most in the area but nowhere near as much as they should.

    They recommended for us to head out early today to make it out to the far eats of the country before the crowds. Our first stop was Tiger Cave. A massive cave system almost on the border with China. We did a tour through the main part and marveled at the sheer size of the caves. At one point there was a little river we could go down on a raft alongside one of the larger rocks. Our route ended at the other end of the cave at a ginormous opening. The contrast of sun shining through into the near black cave created a striking image.

    Our next stop was the showstopper of Cao Bang, the waterfall system that acts as a border between Vietnam and China. We first saw it from above, halfway up a hill in an old temple. From about you can see its length but seems a tad underwhelming as its true size was hidden.

    Back down the hill and a little further down the road we parked up at the entrance, paid and made our way down to the waterfall from below. From below you can see the true size and scale of the waterfalls. The power from them created a thunderous noise and haze at the base. Dad and I took one of the boats down right to the edge, quite an experience. We were the only vietnamese boat out, every other one was a Chinese one. This place was crowded on there side and sparse on our, clearly not a famous spot in vietnam.

    From the waterfall we found somewhere for food then made our way back to town. Just before the city starts we took a right and headed up. After a few wrong turns and a rather bumpy ride, we found what we were looking for. Mountain with hole in it, or angels eye was quite a sight. No clue how it is possible but really quite something we spend a while sitting there looking at it as the sun began to set.

    Our final ride back to the house, as the sun set was beautiful. The golden sun shone off the rice fields and trees the entire way turning everything golden and shiny.
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  • Highlands of Vietnam

    9 ottobre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    The next day, we made our way from Dong Van to Bao Lac. It's another long ride but a nice one.

    The first part was gorgeous. The Ma Pi Leng Pass, famous for its views and impressively built by hand by the locals to aid travel amongst the remote communities among the hills. We made our way down one of the hill sides to the river below. Taking a boat, we went down through the gorge with the hills rising on both sides. It was a bit of a treacherous journey down but worth it for the views.

    The rest of the day was around 3 hrs of twists and turns, through the hills east towards Bao Lac.

    Bao Lac is not the biggest of towns. It feels a bit like how Long Son will be in about 3 years' time. There were a handful of restaurants and sat on the convergence of two rivers. A nice little area, if a little military focused.

    The next day was much the same as before. Twisting through beautiful landscapes down towards Cao Bang.
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  • Northernmost point

    8 ottobre 2023, Vietnam

    Today, Dad and I made our way up to the moth northern part of Vietnam.

    We set off from Yen Min and made our way towards Dong Van. Being the most northern town in Vietnam, it was a little run down, but on the Ha Giang loop, it was also quite touristy. We arrived there about midday, today's ride only being a couple of hours.

    Once there, we checked in, grabbed some food, and set off again. This time, I rode pillion and navigated as we wound our way up through the mountains once more to Lung Cu, the flagpole overlooking China.
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  • Views of Ha Giang

    7 ottobre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Our first day up on the Ha Giang loop!

    We set off in a bit of 5, thankfully cleared up quickly. All the way up the mountain was twists and turns but easy enough to do. About halfway up, we had to weave around some cars that were stopped due to two trucks that were passing. But the road was crumbling beneath one of them, so it had stopped directly in the middle of the road, stopping all traffic.

    Up near the top, we stopped at a recommended spot for a coffee and a look out across the hills. It made for a nice break on our way towards Yen Min, where we are staying the night.

    The roads were fine but unfortunately there was one point that was not so safe. A large stretch of the road was unsealed again, and some of the corners were not great. I ended up coming off on one of the corners. Injured my palms, but thankfully, that was all. Not what I wanted, but we kept on going.

    That evening we ate another meal cooked by the accommodation with a load of people doing a joint tour. There were probably 20 people on this tour, and we had a nice evening with them. One of them had an injured hand from riding as well, so I felt less dumb with my injury.
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  • Ha Giang

    6 ottobre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Finally, up into the mountains.

    I am very sad to leave this idyllic place, we left early again in an attempt to get to Ha Giang without being rained on. The first 1.5 hours was once again on unsealed roads as we made our way around the lake and then headed out north east towards Ha Giang.

    The roads, for the most part, were good, but the quality of buses with crazy drivers was not fun. There is a lot more traffic up here. Perhaps we were just more remote the last week, but it. Is certainly busier.

    Our accommodation in Ha Giang is a little underwhelming. The room I am in has no air con. I will be fine because it isn't that warm, but there is also no view which we paid for, so that sucks. But there we go.

    The place also cooked us dinner, and we had a convo with a young couple here hiking around the mountains. They gave us some tips for the rest of the journey.
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  • Thac Ba Lake

    5 ottobre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    One mildly painful day ahead today.

    We picked up our bikes from Style around 9am. My bike was fixed after the damage it sustained yesterday, and we set off.

    Leaving Hanoi was an interesting experience. We needed to find an atm again and did not do all that well. We ended up doing a circuit of the city for about 40 minutes trying to find one. Eventually, we made it out of the city and spent the next 4 hours doing and xageratwd loop towards thac ba. We were forced to change route due to a road we couldn't go on. Then, we ended up being unable to make it around through the countryside and spending hours more than we had to. The final hour of riding was on unsealed roads, so it was as fun as you would expect.

    But our destination was worth it. Despite being exhausted from the ride and in a bit of pain, you can't ignore the beauty of this place. We each had a cabin that overlooked the lake. A gorgeous view once again. The accommodation made us a massive spread for dinner. Once again, amazing food.
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  • Hanoi

    4 ottobre 2023, Vietnam

    Well, today did not go quite to plan. The road up to Hanoi from Ninh Binh is straight and simple. But Hanoi is awful.

    About 15 minutes from Styles base, where we were heading to drop off the bikes, we were at an intersection. A woman's trailer on her bike hit me as she tried to overtake. I did not come off but ended up crushing my thumb and forefinger on my left hand. Badly bruised my left foot and became very unsettled. It was not a good moment. After a break, wary of everything and trying not to break down again, we finally arrived at Style.

    We got to our hotel, and after a couple of hours to calm down, I was fine.

    Hanoi City is a thriving massive place full of people, vehicles, and chaos. Dad and I wandered through the old city to a cafe for some drinks, then down to the lake and found a driver. Across the city are cyclists, with cabins in front of their bikes pushing tourists around. It was a surprisingly nice way to see the city, a lot clamer than on a bike and more relaxing than walking around.

    We found a stall that sold Banh Mi for our takeaway dinner, and I turned in for an early night. I needed the rest.
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  • Tam Coc

    3 ottobre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Up early once more, we had a little baot trip. Tam Coc is an old suburb of Nimh Binh, there long before the city became popular and known for its beautiful lake and river, and the way the locals captain their baots. Now, they do tours of the area for tourists, still using their traditional technique of paddling with their feet.

    Around 2 hrs, with the sun beating down on us, we silently traversed the river and ducked our way through caves.

    As we had gotten up pretty early again, we headed to a cafe with a view of the lake for a drink before going back to relax for the day. Pool plus air con is glorious.

    Didn't do much for the rest of the day. I needed to relax before tomorrow and the trip to Hanoi.
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  • Ninh Binh

    2 ottobre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

    Another long day took us from the lake side back to the modern world. We left pretty early again today as we had to traverse from the west of the country to the east.

    It did not so well, unfortunately. We ended up going th wrong way for around 20 minutes, so then we had to go back on ourselves. Then we got onto the right track, but it turns out we weren't actually allowed on this road. So, about 20 minutes outside of Ninh Binh, there was a massive tunnel, and a bunch of workers waved us off. We ended up in the middle of nowhere, and it took 1.5 hours to then get to our accommodation. A very long morning.

    Thankfully, our accommodation is gorgeous. The hotel is so nice, has a pool and it is just outside the main part of the city so is quiet. Just around the corner is also a very nice-looking restaurant where we went to get food for a late lunch.

    We then got a little mixed up with timings and left at 4pm, which was an hour early, but it worked out for the better. We headed to a viewpoint atop Hang Mua, a large hill on the outskirts of Nimh Binh with views on either side. It had 400 uneven steps to get up, which I underestimated and nearly died getting up. I blame the long bike rides for that! We watched the sunset from atop the hill before heading back down.
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  • Tea Plantation

    1 ottobre 2023, Vietnam

    Dad and I departed from the Ho Chi Minh Tay and continued inland and north to somewhere neither of us had heard of. The tea plantation was rather remote but gorgeous. The road down was fairly easy to traverse but long. The days seem to only be getting longer!

    The cabin we were staying in looked out over the lake. The place booked us on a boat tour of the lake. It dropped us off across the lake, and we climbed up to look down over the landscape. They also cooked us dinner, a massive array of dishes. Lots of vegges, rice, meat, and eggs. They were very hospitable and kind despite being a little surprised when we arrived.
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  • Phong NHA

    30 settembre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We woke pretty early today. The weather gets super hot at midday, so morning is a nicer time to be out. We also wanted to visit the caves today, which can get very busy. We were on the first boat out today, so we were the first there.

    The caves were crazy to wander through. The size and majesty of them were fascinating. I would have loved a tour guide that could have told us about the caves, but that wasn't quite possible with the language barrier.

    We took a boat ride to get their across the river. The family we shared the boat with shared some pomelo with us on the way back. A very nice little trip.

    The rest of the day, I relaxed with the view and my book. Dad and I went back to the vegetarian place for lunch while we got our bikes fixed. A good day.
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  • Ho Chi Minh Tay #2

    29 settembre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    Dad and I got up pretty early today and headed out for the second half of the Ho Chi Minh Tay. Yesterday, we rode for ages and barely saw another vehicle. Today was just the same.

    About an hour in we past 2 other bikers going in the other direct. We stopped for a bit for dad to climb a waterfall for some water, and they passed us. We stopped for a while and got some tips going forward.

    The rest of the day was pretty smooth sailing. I am certainly struggling a little with the long days of continuous riding. Siting for so long isn't the most comfortable thing to do. After about 2 hrs, it becomes quite uncomfortable. But regular breaks are helping.

    We arrived at Phong NHA about when we expected too, so that was nice. Our accommodation for the next few days is honestly gorgeous. We each have a room that overlooks the river and mountain opposite with an adjoining balcony.

    The rain began once again, but the cover of our balcony kept me nice and dry as I relaxed. We went to a vegetarian restaurant in town for dinner which was surprisingly good. I got the aubergine and lemon grass, top tier.
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  • Ho Chi Minh Tay #1

    28 settembre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    So the Ho Chi Minh Tay is part of the Ho Chi Minh trails that criss cross Vietnam and Loas. They were built during the 19th century and named after the president that led the country through the vietnam War.

    The Ho Chi Minh Tay is a length of road that goes from Khe San to Phong NHA and is famed across the world for its views and loved by motorcyclists.

    We decided to stop at the tiny town of Long So halfway so as to break the journey up. It is usually an 8hr days so the break halfway was really nice.

    That being said, the accommodation was certainly bare, but it did enough for us for the night. The hotel was a bit strange as they kept our passports as a deposit style thing. It was a tad unnerving, but we had little choice. The place also had WiFi, which was spread after a busy day of riding.

    Despite the occasional chill when up the top of the mountains, the ride was gorgeous. It was similar to the day before but even better as we were so high up at times we could see for miles.

    The town, however, was very lacking. There were a few restaurants listed on Google, but none were open. We managed to find someone who cooked us some pho. Dinner ended up being some snacks we bought from the store because the options were even more lacking come sunset.
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  • To Khe San

    27 settembre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today, we headed inland and twisted through the central mountains towards the west of the country. Our destination for the day was Khe San, a main border city near Laos at the bottom of the Ho Chi Minh Tay.

    The views were once again incredible. The entire area was covered in jungle and lushously green. Loads of waterfalls and rivers banked the road on each side. The road was a dark brown, almost red in places, which makes a stark contrast.

    The journey was quite a long one today, which was a little tiring but a good start.

    Khe San is not the nicest of cities. Rather industrial and full of trucks transporting goods. It was pretty dirty and not very tourist catered. This was quite a contrast to the other side of the country where it caters well to tourists.
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  • Ha Van Pass

    26 settembre 2023, Vietnam

    Day one of our journey to the north took us back to Da Nang and to the Ha Van Pass. The entire landscape was stunning, and the views across the bay and the mountain were phenomenal. The ride held a lot of turns but was so worth it.

    The journey after the pass was less nice. A bit of main road and then large detour through the fishing villages. The detour was nice, the main road less so.

    We arrived in Hue just before the rain began, which was perfect. The hotel also ordered us in dinner. We ordered the crispy noodles, which were surprisingly good. The spring rolls were as well. The rain stopped during, and the frogs came out and screamed for ages. It was super loud!
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  • Bike pick up

    25 settembre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Finally, the time came for us to pick up our bikes. After a relaxing morning, we found some lunch and then headed out to the shop to collect the bikes. Mine is a blue one, and Dad's is red. Adjusting to the semi automatics is a bit weird. But the bikes ride nicely, and Hoi An is quiet enough to be able to ride pretty well.

    Dad and I spent most of the day just relaxing and preparing for the journey ahead of us.
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  • Hoi an

    24 settembre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    After an interesting night's sleep, we arrived in Da Nang. The train was actually better than I feared it would be, but 17 hours on a train is rough no matter what.

    Someone from our hotel in Hoi An picked us up from the train station. An air-conditioned taxi after the train was very nice. But the hotel was far better. It was a much needed break after so much travel.

    The hotel did food as well so we decided to eat in for lunch. Then, relax for what was left of the afternoon.

    Around sunset, we decided to walk down to the night market. One of the biggest markets in Vietnam, it stretched across one bank of the river and half of the island opposite. We had our first taste of vietnamese Banh Mi and some pancakes. Once the sun set, the lights strung around the entire market could be seen clearer. It was beautiful.
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  • Ho Chi Minh City

    23 settembre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Dad and I spent the day walking around the city and visiting the sites. We started at the war museum, which was fascinating. The exhibit covered three floors and the outside, which was a little much in my opinion but still fascinating. There were sections on the machines, the countries involved, the countries against it, agent orange, and so much more. It was honestly incredible to experience.

    I had been told by some other travellers that the museum is better to do than the tour, and they were right. I didn't learn anything in the tour that I didn't in the museum but so much more in the museum than tour.

    The city is manic, I am very glad we are not picking up bikes here, I would not enjoy riding through this city. We found a market style place with a load of stalls for lunch as we wandered through the city. After getting highly confused on how to withdraw money from atms, we found our way back to the hostel.

    Dad then took a trip across town to see an old government building while I waited with the bags. We then caught a taxi to the train station for our night train.

    The train is pretty basic. Not awful though, we grabbed some snacks before setting off.
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  • Vietnam

    22 settembre 2023, Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Woke up on my first morning in my 3rd country of this trip. The jetlag was hitting me a bit so I slept for around 10hrs but woke up at 5am so that wasn't ideal but it was ok.

    Today a girl in my room and I paid to go on a tour of the chi chu tunnels found in southern vietman. We set of from our hostel and began the 2hr drive. I handt realised how long it would take but it was an ok journey.

    We did stop part way through at a centre created by a charity to give jobs to those effected by Agent Orange. They create these incredible mosaic style pieces out of egg shells and pearls. The pieces were beautiful and all sales went to fund the charity and those helped by it.

    The tunnels themselves were quite something. They are incredible feats of human ingenuity and strength but our tour guide was weird. It was like he was trying to be neutral and give both sides of the story, but he ended up have very little to say about either. He was clearly pro north vietnam and the communist side but was maybe trying to hide that fact as he was in the southern part of the country. I'm not sure but it was not as informative as I had hoped.

    Back in the hostel I had a rest. The travel in the mini bus and jetlag was getting back to me. In the evening dad arrived. We went out for dinner and had a drink in the hostel bar. The roof bar had a great view of the city at night.
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  • One last day

    20 settembre 2023, Australia

    My final day in Sydney. I'm going to be honest, I don't know how I got here. But ok then.

    I decided to do a walking tour of Sydney. I did this walk before back in January, where I met Moni, but I decided to do it again. I didn't want to be alone on my last day and hoped that tour would have someone I could spend the day with. Thankfully, it did.

    After the tour, 7 of us ended up going to get ice cream together. I made friends with 2 girls on the tour, and then we grabbed 3 other guys from their hostel and the tour guide to come with us. We then went down to the botanical garden, walked around and choose a spot at the far end with the sights in the distance. We ended up staying there for the rest of the day as the sunset.

    We grabbed some food for dinner and then I headed back to my hostel around 8pm. My flight is a 10 tomorrow and I am exhausted from spending all day with people.

    An excellent final day to my time in Aus.
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  • Bondi-coogee walk

    19 settembre 2023, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    On my second to last day in Australia, I took the bus out to Bondi and did the famous Bondi to Coogee walk.

    I arrived around 9am and set off. All in all the walk took about 1.5hrs and it was nice. A simple walk with only minimal slopes. Unfortunately it was boiling hot. Around 28° as I finished and I was struggling a little.

    I spent a few hours on the grass by the beach. The sand was packed with people and provided no shade whatsoever. I did swim briefly when I first arrived at coogee but the waves were very strong and I did not trust my capabilities. It was however freezing cold which was gorgeous after being so warm while walking.

    Around 1 I walked through the town and found something for lunch. This rice salad was amazing, and hit the spot perfectly.

    I took the 2,30 bus back to the city and walked through the main area before heading back to my hostel. I needed to do laundry so did that and had a very long shower.
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