East Asia

Divya and Aushim’s month long adventures across various parts of East Asia Czytaj więcej

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9 marca 2024
East Asia
Here we go
9 marca 2024, Anglia ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C
We got all set, packed, excited and ready to go on our month long adventure to East Asia! So excited, that we arrived ridiculously early at the airport and then had to wait 45 minutes for the check-in counter to open for our flight to Japan! Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Touchdown in Japan
10 marca 2024, Japonia ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
After a mammoth 14-hour flight, our longest ever, we finally landed in the Tokyo Haneda airport. We realised we could have speeded up the immigration and customs by filling the electronic online form in advance. Nevertheless, even without it, the whole process didn’t take long. We moved on, found a bus to the Narita Airport and after a bit of asking around, found a shuttle bus from the Narita Airport to our hotel. We were definitely jet-lagged, keen to take it easy for the day and recharge for the upcoming week in South East Asia. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
First meal
10 marca 2024, Japonia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
We ended up having our first meal of the trip, which we ordered via room service because we were too tired to head out anywhere. It was a wholesome and delicious Sakyoyaki - salmon marinated in white miso, accompanied by Miso soup, salad, pickles and what according to Divya was the best tofu she’s ever had. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
All set for South East Asia
11 marca 2024, Japonia ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C
Our brief stop in Tokyo ended and after storing our heavier suitcase containing warm clothes/jackets, we were off to the more tropical South East Asia for the next two weeks. Japan had already been impressive in terms of its hospitality, food and systems and we were excited to be back later for more in the second part of our trip. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Hello Vietnam
11 marca 2024, Wietnam ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
We arrived at our first major stop in South East Asia - the bustling city of Hanoi in Vietnam. And straight up, we were off for a walk near the Hoan Kiem Lake in the Old quarter. An interesting incident that happened while we were walking was that two completely random Asian women asked Divya if they could click a picture along with her. Divya was pleasantly surprised and for a moment wondered if there was a catch. There wasn’t - they just wanted a picture with Divya and so she obliged. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Water puppet show
11 marca 2024, Wietnam ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
A cute and unique cultural experience at the Thang Long theatre - the artists showcase the culture, stories and traditions of Vietnamese life (especially the village life built around rivers and fresh water bodies) through puppets moving in water, accompanied by some beautiful live folk music. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Street eats
11 marca 2024, Wietnam ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
When you’re in Hanoi, street food is hard to miss. We love Vietnamese food and decided to go on a fun food walking tour through the narrow alleys where we ended up trying many delicious delicacies - Steamed rice pancakes (our favourite of the evening), dried meat salad, spring rolls, fried sweet potato, fried bananas, pork noodles and pandan-flavoured sticky rice with ice cream. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Ha Long Bay
12 marca 2024, Wietnam ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
And finally, we saw the crown jewel of Vietnam - the majestic Ha Long Bay. We spent a day cruising through the beautiful bay with countless limestone cliffs all around us. The speedboat ride, in particular was fun with the driver turning and drifting the boat at high speeds. It was followed by a short and nice ride in a bamboo boat through a cave and a hidden lagoon. Later in the afternoon, we also visited the Sung Sot cave (I skipped this because it involved a lot of stairs and Divya did this alone) and the Ti Top island (named after a Russian who was the second man to go into space after Gagarin), before heading back to Hanoi. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Train street
12 marca 2024, Wietnam ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
We ended up exploring Train street, where trains pass by at less than a foot’s distance to the people sitting at adjacent cafes. This place was not a tourist spot a decade ago, but then Instagram happened and the locals started wondering why all these people were flocking to a narrow street to see trains go by. Unfortunately, we missed all the trains for the day, but still managed to enjoy a nice cup of Egg coffee - a Vietnamese specialty, sitting right next to the train tracks. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Beer street
12 marca 2024, Wietnam ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
What a spot! Nightlife doesn’t get any better. Great beer bars, music from early 2010s and an amazing lively crowd - don’t think there’s any place in London that can match this atmosphere.
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East Asia
Wars, leaders and memorials
13 marca 2024, Wietnam ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
We took a tour around some of the most important sites in Hanoi - especially when it comes to the modern history of the country and the wars it was part of in the twentieth century - the Indochina wars and the US-Vietnam war. We saw the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Temple of Literature and the Hoa Lo Prison Relic. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Khmer land
13 marca 2024, Kambodża ⋅ 🌙 28 °C
We’ve now landed in Siem Reap in Cambodia for the next leg of our trip and wow, it’s hot here - 28 degrees even at night. We went out for some authentic Khmer dinner and tried the national dish - Fish Amok. We found it similar to a Thai curry except much more heavier in flavour and texture and lighter on spicyness. Also tried the local rice spirit - Sombai, which was surprisingly light and nice to drink. Now off to sleep for an early rise tomorrow for the main event - Angkor Wat. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Angkor Wat
14 marca 2024, Kambodża ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
We woke up early and headed to the city of Angkor - the capital city of the early medieval Khmer Empire. Our first stop was the grand and majestic Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy in the morning so witnessing the sunrise was not an option. But we still managed to see the dawn arrive and the colours change with the backdrop of the temple. We spent ample time within Angkor Wat and it was interesting to see so many depictions of Hindu mythology on the walls of this originally Hindu temple. One of the more common depictions was that of Samudra Manthan. We then headed to the Ta Prohm and Bayon temples, the former of them now famous because of Tomb Raider - Lara Croft films. A lot of the temples have been undergoing restoration work. The work on the Ta Prohm temple in particular has been a joint project with India (Archeological Survey of India). In between our temple visits, Divya also got a water blessing from a Buddhist Monk, whose smoke break we interrupted. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Masterchef Cambodia
14 marca 2024, Kambodża ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C
We went for a very well organised cooking class in a local’s home in Siem Reap. We found this via Airbnb and it was a lot of fun cooking authentic Khmer dishes like Fish Amok in a nice kitchen surrounded by a plush garden of herbs, vegetables and fruits. Our instructors were great and very helpful and the whole experience felt very Masterchef-y. The food and the conversations with the rest of the group were a nice close to the fun evening. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Phnom Kulen
15 marca 2024, Kambodża ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
After a well-needed 10+ hour sleep, our final stop in Cambodia was Phnom Kulen - a national park atop the Kulen mountains, popular for many sites including the amazingly scenic Kulen Waterfalls, the Reclining Buddha, 1000 Lingas and just the view from the cliff at the top of the mountain. We also tried some sweet red bananas, which are only found in these mountains. It was extremely hot by the time we left and we felt super dehydrated, even after each of us had a large natural coconut. Now, we are headed for our next destination - Phuket in Thailand! Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Phang Nga Bay
16 marca 2024, Tajlandia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
We arrived the previous night at our next destination of the trip - Phuket and transferred to a bare-bones hotel next to the airport to sleep for the night. When asked about breakfast, the lady at the counter said “We sell rooms, not food”. We woke up early today to visit the gorgeous Phang Nga Bay and its various points of attraction. Going early was an amazing decision because we beat the crowds and were practically alone throughout our time in the bay surrounded by breathtaking scenery - sunrise among the limestone cliffs, James Bond Island, Tam Lot Cave, Koh Panyee Fishing Village (with a floating football field) and the Monkey Cave Temple. We also had some amazing Thai brunch - green curry, sweet and sour cashew chicken and vegetables. Next up - Phi Phi Islands. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Bamboo Island
16 marca 2024, Tajlandia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
After a 1-hour speedboat to Phi Phi Islands and then checking in to our hotel in Koh Phi Phi Don, our first stop was Bamboo Island - a beautiful serene white-sandy beach island, where we ended up snorkelling and relaxing on the absolutely stunning beach. It’s an uninhabited island and relatively less popular among the different Phi Phi Islands, so it was practically empty except a few other people. We had a nice time snorkelling (Divya way more than me) and then got to see the sunset and luminescent plankton on our way back. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Beach on fire
16 marca 2024, Tajlandia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
One of the outright main attractions of the Phi Phi Islands is the fire show at the Slinky Beach Bar at Loh Dalum Beach. It happens every night from 8pm onwards, and single-handedly makes it worth it to stay overnight at Phi Phi. We ended up witnessing dozens of different acts (including some with audience participation) where the performers were constantly juggling, manoeuvring, throwing and catching objects on fire. We also had a couple of Singhas and followed it up with some delicious Thai food - Tom Ga Khai and the Thai mango with Sticky rice, Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Maya Bay
17 marca 2024, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
We again woke up early to beat the crowds - this time for Maya Bay, on the Phi Phi Leh Island. The reputation of this beach precedes it - it was the location of Leonardo DiCaprio’s film “The Beach” and since then, has been consistently ranked among the top three beaches in the world, and in some years, it has topped the list. The beach certainly exceeded our expectations. It is extremely gorgeous, with silky white sand and is surrounded by huge limestone caves on each side. We spent some time here - saw baby sharks and mountain crabs, and then moved on to other attractions of the island - Pi Leh Lagoon and snorkelling in the Viking cave. On our way back to our hotel, we saw the Monkey Beach. All in all, a morning well spent! Czytaj więcej
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Thai food and relaxation
17 marca 2024, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
After a short swim in our hotel pool and checking-out, we went out for some authentic Thai lunch with amazing views of the turquoise blue sea water. I had been eagerly waiting to try some Pad Krapao Gai (Stir Fried Chilli Basil with Chicken) - a dish I frequently have in Thai places in London. And that’s what we had, along with some Tom Yum soup. It was delicious and (unfortunately for Divya) spicy. We had told them to give us the chillies separate from the dish, but we learnt the hard way that it’s not how the Thai do things. We followed this up (on Divya’s insistence) with a Thai foot massage, which was a nice way to relax and beat the afternoon heat. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Patong
17 marca 2024, Tajlandia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
After coming back to Phuket Island, we spent the evening in the Patong area. It’s an extremely lively area filled with street food, clubs, live music bars, restaurants and also a Muay Thai boxing stadium. Bangla road in particular is the centre of energy of this happening place. We started off with some street food - dumplings and rice rolls. And then followed it up with some drinks in the New York live music bar - which was the highlight of the evening. The live band was crazy good and they played popular songs from various genres and periods. We requested “Gimme Gimme Gimme” by ABBA and they eventually did play ABBA but “Mamma Mia” which was pretty good too. We ended the night with some Thai Mango with sticky rice before heading back to the hotel. I think by now, we are a bit addicted to this dish. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Phuket Big Buddha
18 marca 2024, Tajlandia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
On our final day in Thailand, we went to see the Phuket Big Buddha on our way to the airport. It’s a majestic 45m tall statue on top of a hill in southern Phuket. We were almost going to skip it because of being short on time, but were so glad we didn’t. The statue is really tall and you can’t help but feel in awe of the structure and the views from atop the hill. The short reads on the spread of Buddhism in South East Asia were nice additions to the monument. Once at the airport, we had some Pad Thai and for one last time because we couldn’t resist, Thai mango with sticky rice. Next up - flight to Bali with a layover in Kuala Lumpur. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Layover in Kuala Lumpur
18 marca 2024, Malezja ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
So we had around 3 hours to kill at the Kuala Lumpur airport before our connecting flight to Bali and we considered using one of those capsule hotels. But then I proposed something better - a board game. We played a game of 7 Wonders Duel on the floor of one of the departure gates. I won but to be fair, it was Divya’s first time playing so there was a bit of a learning curve and some minor confusion about some of the rules. Overall, both of us enjoyed playing it. We had some quick early dinner - Soto Ayam and Lotong Vegetables, and then boarded our flight to Bali. Czytaj więcej
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East Asia
Balinese food, beach and spa
19 marca 2024, Indonezja ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
We are in everyone’s favourite holiday destination in Indonesia - Bali, and on our first day here we decided to go on a tour of South Bali, which is mostly all about beaches, water sports and Hindu temples. We started off with doing a Jet Ski along the beach, which was okay, nothing great. We then went for a traditional Balinese massage/aromatherapy (just Divya, not me). It was then time for lunch and we went to a local place and tried a Nasi Campur, which turned out to be more spicy than Divya’s stomach would have liked. We learnt that local places (unlike places catering to tourists) are not able to adjust spice levels. We’ll be careful about this now. Czytaj więcej
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GWK, Uluwatu and Kecak Dance
19 marca 2024, Indonezja ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Bali has done really well on religious tourism. The majority of its population is Hindu and there are lots of temples dedicated to Hindu gods and goddesses. We visited some of the popular ones on our South Bali excursion. First was the Garuda Wisnu Kencana park (aka GWK), a cultural centre dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Garuda and showcasing their gigantic and majestic statues. Next, we visited the Uluwatu cliff, with beautiful sunset views and light blue sea waves crashing at the bottom of the cliff. It also featured the Uluwatu temple - a thousand year old temple which was coincidentally doing a major one-a-year holy ceremony when we visited. The highlight though was the Kecak dance performance, which happens every evening at a beautiful open amphitheater on top of the cliff. It is a depiction of important scenes from the Ramayana and involved the performers making “kecak” sounds while enacting the scenes and sometimes playing with actual fire. The whole thing was a mesmerising experience - an absolute must for when in Bali. Czytaj więcej
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