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2024 Adventure

Februari - September 2024
A seven month trip around Asia and Europe. Full blog at twobackpacks.co.uk Baca lagi
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  • 2024 Adventure
    Hari 106

    On to Phnom Penh

    19 Mei, Kemboja ⋅ ☁️ 35 °C

    From what we'd seen of Koh Kong yesterday, we didn't feel like we needed to see much more. So, we headed out to a place around the corner for breakfast. We weren't 100% sure what we were ordering, as it was just from blurry pictures. My French toast was alright, but James ended up getting toast with an egg yolk, corn and cheese on it. Really strange. We ended up staying there for hours, chatting about what we would serve and how we'd operate a café back home—a business idea for the future.

    We then headed back to our room to chill and pack. We were kicked out of our rooms at 12 and then sat in their café updating this blog until 1:30 PM. Our coach was departing at 2:00 PM just around the corner. It arrived late anyway, and we didn't leave until 2:30 PM, but we got to sit in an air-conditioned room, so I had no complaints.

    The drive was like being back in Nepal. All the roads for the next four hours were under construction, with only one side partly complete, meaning cars would constantly switch sides depending on the road quality. There were fewer potholes, but other than that, I spent most of the drive watching out the front, feeling every hazard that came our way.

    We stopped off twice, both at really bootleg places with barely the basic facilities. The second time, I tried to get some food. Out of some random pots, an old lady gave me some rice and a bowl of soup. The soup was all boiled meat, something I can't stand, so I just ate the rice. The owners must have been paying the driver really well because we constantly passed much nicer stops along the way.

    For the final 1.5 hours, there was a perfectly complete highway with all the modern conveniences, so it's not like they can't build the roads.

    Arriving in Phnom Penh, I was struck by how modern it was. The skyline was full of lit-up buildings and fancy food shops. But then, right next door, was a very old, dilapidated building selling food on the side with multiple generations spilling out onto the street. Some of the side roads didn't seem to have street lights. It seems like an interesting mix of old and new.

    Our hotel is lovely—a little place called Pride Resort, with a decent pool that we'll use to cool off. We got a top-floor room with a nice clear view of the sky. Getting in late, we went straight to bed, ready to hit the city the next day.    Baca lagi

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Hari 105

    Arriving into Cambodia

    18 Mei, Kemboja ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    We awoke slowly, wanting to savor every last second in our amazing rooms at Mira Montbra. We eventually pulled ourselves out of our comfy bed and went to the main building for breakfast, where we loaded up on all our favorites: bacon, eggs, pancakes, and fruit. Then we returned to our room to pack. We're now pretty streamlined at packing. We still can't do it in five minutes (not the way we spread out), but in a pinch, we could probably do everything in ten minutes. We said our goodbyes to the room and the view and got the hotel taxi to the port. When we arrived, 10 minutes early, the travel agents quickly checked our info and stuck location stickers on our chests, like children, and then told us to get aboard as they were waiting for us. The boat only had two other couples aboard, and it took off as soon as we got on, 7 minutes early.

    I enjoyed the passage outside on the upper deck, where I had to wear a life jacket (they're really big on their life jackets here), and watched the distant clouds depositing their rain while the sun shone over us. We were picked up by a comfy minivan at the mainland port, which we had all to ourselves. Just after the port, however, we had to get out for the agents to check our info again and fill out a border information card for us. While there, they said we could pay for our Cambodia visa there, but it was $20 more than the $32 we'd read it would be. We had also read that Cambodian officers were quite corrupt and would try to charge you more, but we didn't think it was going to be $20 more, so we declined the offer and decided to risk it.

    We got back into our van and were joined by a Mancunian couple and three British lads who were trying to pretend they weren't posh. After 2 hours of driving, we were transferred to a taxi pickup truck which took us right to the border, where we were passed to another agent. At the border, we started by getting a stamp for leaving Thailand and then we had to walk through no man's land, which was full of freight lorries, to the Cambodian border guards. There, another agent took our passports and charged us $40 for our visa (still a $10 saving) and gave them to the guards to process. Ten minutes later, we had our visas and were ushered into Cambodia, where we sat and ate the stir-fried rice they gave us and tried not to melt while waiting for the other travelers to join us.

    The other people were all heading on to Koh Rong island, but we were just heading to Koh Kong, the next city from the border. They'd been informed there were no ATMs on the island and most of the country still operates in cash, so they spent 15 minutes trying to convince the travel agent to take them to an ATM so they could get cash, which the agent refused to do and was getting quite annoyed at them. Cambodia operates on its local currency, the riel, but many places accept US dollars, and if an ATM detects you have a foreign card, it will only dispense dollars. It's quite confusing. In the end, one of the lads got taken on a motorbike to a distant ATM and then the bus met him there.

    We were dropped off 30 minutes later and checked into our room for the night. I'd read a blog about the city and concluded there wasn't much to do or see in Koh Kong but thought we'd stay one night, with a later bus so we'd have enough time to see the sights.

    We first got ourselves sorted, me with a SIM card and then to the ATM for cash, dollars only. Then we went for a wander down to the waterfront. From the smell, it's a town centered around fishing and there were lots of women on the side of the road selling big bowls of fish, while children ran around waving and staring at us as we walked past.

    We made it a few blocks before stopping to have a cold drink before walking on to a park. This park had been mentioned as a great scenic spot in the blog; however, I'm not sure it's something I would have bothered mentioning. After sitting there for a while and being hassled to buy a bag of indistinguishable ocean items from a homeless man, we decided to head back to our rooms. They're attached to a restaurant where we decided to have dinner too. There was a drunk metalhead guy with tattoos trying to keep a small bird he'd found alive and kept asking for salad and sugar water. He tried to negotiate taking the tissue box away as a birdhouse. The owner was having none of it.

    So far, my impression of Cambodia is that it reminds me of Nepal but Southeast Asia style, with its decent but not quite accurate city planning and infrastructure. It is fairly littered and the sewers are kind of open, but it's not anywhere as much so as in India. We were also getting a lot more stares but in a much more friendly, curious way, like in the corner shop where a young lady wanted to know where we were from, how long we were staying, and what our favorite dish was. I'm very curious to explore more and see the rest of the sights of the country.    Baca lagi

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Hari 102–105

    Koh Mak island

    15 Mei, Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    If we thought Koh Chang was idyllic, Koh Mak was heaven. We'd heard from Cecil, who we did our Manaslu trek with, that Koh Kood, the island just south of us, was her favorite and absolutely perfect. We looked into it but found it kind of expensive and out of our budget. However, looking at the island three times smaller just north of it, we found a resort right on the beach for £32 a night! Bargain! So we booked three nights before heading back onto the backpacker trail. We got a speedboat there and were picked up by the hotel at the other end. In the taxi we took in Koh Chang to the ferry port, while going up a steep hill, the makeshift seats on the pickup truck collapsed, along with the roof they were attached to. Thankfully, I think it just slipped off its perch and didn't hurt anyone, but it was scary for a second there. (See picture).

    Arriving at the hotel was lovely. The staff were friendly, we got nice scented water on arrival, and we were taken up to our room, up a small hill on a golf buggy. We had a 1st-floor room, which gave us a fantastic view of the resort and the beach, and we were level with the treetops, making it perfect for bird watching. These were the cheaper rooms too. There were more expensive beachfront bungalows for £15 more, but in the end, the privacy and view you got in these cheaper rooms were more preferable to us anyway.

    For the next three days, we lounged about in bed, looked at the view, read, decided our next moves, and hung by the pool. They also offered free snorkel and kayak rentals. So on two different days, we went out and explored the coral right on our beach. The water here was perfectly clear too, and it was not as shallow as Koh Chang, so pretty much perfection all around.

    On one of our evenings, we got dinner at the resort dining hall, where all the meals are served, and the monsoon rains had been pretty intense. After it stopped and we were heading back, we were overrun by these largish winged bugs that flapped chaotically around every single light along the path and anywhere with a bulb. There were so many it was apocalyptic, and we had to use umbrellas to try and keep them off us. The geckos were having a feast, but it felt kind of icky and scary to us.

    Another day we wandered out of the resort to a grocery store to get snacks. We stopped next to it and had lunch. The place looked like nothing, but the food was delicious. Appearances aren't everything out here.

    Overall, it was actual heaven. It was so hard prying ourselves away from the place. We're seriously tempted to just return at the end of our trip and spend our last bit of time (and money) there. If anyone is considering it, do it. It's on the island of Koh Mak, at the Mira Montra resort. 😍🥲    Baca lagi

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  • 2024 Adventure
    2
    Hari 95–102

    Koh Chang

    8 Mei, Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    For the next few days, we did not get up to much. Our days consisted of sleeping in, going to the beach, getting fruit smoothies and cocktails, napping in the afternoon, and then going back out for dinner.

    We were staying in a little bungalow which was simple but had everything you'd need: a kettle, big fridge, fast internet, TV with Netflix and Prime, a little table and chairs, and a communal kitchen. Trying to keep it cheap, we bought granola, yogurt, and fresh fruit for breakfast and some snacks for the middle of the day when we got peckish.

    The walk to the beach was over a boardwalk and pontoon, which went over an estuary that filled up from the sea at high tide. The beach was beautiful, with trees overhanging it and relaxing beach bars and restaurants that allowed you to sit on their deck chairs as long as you ordered a drink. The water was SO warm, like bathwater, and fairly murky, sadly. The tides also made it SO shallow for ages, and there were quite a few sharp rocks. Good thing we brought our swim shoes! I did scratch my thigh on the first day trying to swim when it was still too shallow.

    Highlights of our stay included the authentic Italian pizza restaurant, run by an actual Italian owner, eating freshly caught fish on the grill two evenings, and binging Fallout on Prime.

    One evening we went to Lonely Beach, which was the party spot on the island. After a few pre-drinks, we caught an island taxi, which was just a converted pickup truck with seats in it. They just go back and forth along the only main road, and you hail it down and pay at the end. When we got there, it was DEAD. We passed a couple of huge clubs pumping loud dance tunes and strobe lights with no one in them. After a walk back and forth, we decided "fuck it" and went into one with the best music and got drinks. After 20 minutes of being there, two other groups of locals came in as well. We found a pool table and played two games. I won the first one; James won the second, and we had a great time. Lesson learned: sometimes you need to make your own fun.

    One of the other major highlights was a day trip of snorkeling we did. We booked it not expecting to see much, just a few fish, but it was actually so amazing. We went to three spots for snorkeling, the best being the first two. They were off some teeny tiny islands that had some rocks around them. We actually saw coral, fluorescent, purple, and yellow coral! And sea anemones with clownfish rubbing themselves on them and swimming away to hide. I can't express how amazing it was. It wasn't the Great Barrier Reef, but it was still so amazing. After the big buffet lunch they served, they dropped us off at an uninhabited island with a paradise beach. The water was crystal clear and the sand silky smooth. It was the best beach I've ever been to in my life, and I'm from Greece! The last spot we went to was a bit too murky to see much of the coral, but we had fun splashing about before heading back to our origin. Even though I wore suncream and reapplied, we both still burned our back legs and bum, but not too badly.

    One of the things I most enjoyed was all the unique wildlife I'd never seen before. In the morning, the cacophony of birds was like a recording you'd get on your wake-up alarm, and the beach was full of crabs scuttling about. Overall, it was pretty perfect and so nice we definitely struggled to leave.    Baca lagi

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  • 2024 Adventure
    1
    Hari 93–95

    Bangkok days 4 & 5

    6 Mei, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 40 °C

    As it was so hot and we had no pool, we thought it might be cooler and more refreshing to head out of the city and visit a national park with some amazing waterfall plunge pools called Erawan Falls (yes, the same ones they go to in Race Across the World, episode 5). We began early by getting a microbus to the nearest big town and then a local bus to the national park. The microbus driver was a bit of a maniac and spent the whole two-hour journey swerving in and out of cars and putting his foot down so hard the bus began making warning beeps that he was going way over the speed limit. After that ride, James and I felt a bit motion sick, so it was quite nice getting on the local bus, which went at a slow cruising speed with little to no swerving, even without AC, for the rest of the hour-and-a-half drive.

    The national park was very much like most American national parks, with a paved walkway to the pools and even optional golf buggies to and from the start. There are seven levels of pools, and the first one was very busy, as were the next two pools. We decided to stop in the fourth pool for a swim. It was very hard to get into them as the roots and rocks were slippery, and the tiny baby fish kept nipping at you as you tried to enter. The water was so lovely and refreshing, and with the mandatory life jackets, it was nice just floating around. The fish were quite distracting, though, as if you stayed still for even a second, you'd get nipped, which I didn't like.

    We then hiked to pools 5, 6, and 7 to swim in each. Seven was definitely the best and the clearest but full of more photo seekers. It was so nice though; I could have stayed there for ages, but sadly the next bus was soon, and the 1.5-hour gap between them meant we had to get this one.

    We arrived just in time and began our long journey back the way we'd come. When we arrived in Bangkok, the bus dropped us off right by a street food market, and as it was 7 PM at this point, we were starving, so I suggested we get dinner there. It had so many local food options, with no foreigners in sight, a proper local hot spot. I bought a variety of meat on sticks, some noodles, and huge prawns that we had to de-shell ourselves. It was pretty delicious. Then for dessert, we shared a coconut slushy drink that was also delicious. We headed back to our room tired and ready for bed.

    On our final full day in the city, we visited the royal palace. We got up early and ate breakfast at a local cafe (it's very hard to find anywhere open before 11 AM here) and then caught the speedboat to the palace entrance. That night the heat had broken and the rains had begun, so it was raining quite a bit upon entering the palace grounds. The palace buildings were beautiful. The architecture is so different from anything Western you see, and the detail in the decoration is so amazing it's a lot to take in. I have to say it wasn't very good at telling us anything about the royal family, but it was all pretty interesting to look at and explore. We went inside a temple where we had to take off our shoes and saw a super precious jade Buddha (no photos inside allowed) and also saw a miniature version of Angkor Wat.

    After about two hours, we got tired and headed to a highly-rated cafe where we had a beautiful lunch. Then we headed into the city to Decathlon to buy some beach stuff. We bought snorkels and masks and water shoes so we don't get any sea urchin stings. I also managed to find some purple shampoo for my blonde hair (to get rid of the brassy tones that creep in) in the shop opposite. We then decided to go off the beaten track and take a local bus. I sat next to an old gentleman who immediately wanted to know where we were from and how long we were staying. I don't think they get many foreigners on the local buses. It dropped us just by our rooms, and we rested and ate dinner later on by our rooms.

    Considering we felt a little uncertain about what we were going to do in Bangkok when we first arrived, it felt like we'd done a lot by the time we left. I'm sure we'll be back as well, as it might be where we fly home from too. Till next time, Bangkok.    Baca lagi

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Hari 91–93

    Bangkok Continued

    4 Mei, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 37 °C

    On our second full day, we decided to head to an art center to look at art and get breakfast. The taxis here can be ordered through Bolt, the same way you would order an Uber, so it was really simple to get around. We arrived at the art center and got a simple croissant breakfast, and I tried Thai tea, which is more orange-colored than milk tea and tastes lovely. We stayed so long that we ended up ordering a second round of cold drinks, then decided to skip the art (there didn't seem to be much anyway) and headed to the HUGE shopping malls next door. It was more like three malls in one and just went on and on. I was searching for a phone shop to get a SIM card, and James was browsing the tech since it was cheaper here. After browsing the shops and marveling at the consumerism, we went to the food court, which was epic and had so many restaurants and street food stalls that it was hard to choose. The food we settled on was delicious, and we decided to get a local type of iced bun for dessert, one of which was pandan-flavored, which was a new taste.

    We then headed back and rested before going out for an evening of drinks. We began at a place around the corner from us and ordered a delicious clear fruit wine drink that was 13% alcohol and came in flavors such as peach, yogurt, and grape. After sharing three bottles, which were small, but we were only given shot glasses to drink from, we definitely felt tipsy. We then wandered down to Khao San Road, the famous party and backpacker road, which immediately hit us with super loud bass music and touts outside every bar and club offering us one free drink, discounts, or laughing gas. Not to mention the street food vendors selling grilled scorpions, centipedes, and spiders to eat. It was pretty overwhelming, but we eventually settled in a quieter bar where we ordered one last drink before wandering back home to bed.

    For our third day in Bangkok, we decided to see a huge street market and then visit the museums in the afternoon. We got a taxi to Chatuchak Weekend Market and picked up some breakfast and Thai tea/coffee before wandering around, taking in all the many stalls and their wares. They sold everything, from clothes and paintings to kitchen equipment and even plastic food and flowers. The alleys were all covered, and most had fans blasting air around, but it was still hot. You could spend hours there going around the warren of shops, but we had museums to see, so we picked up a crushed ice orange drink, which was delicious, and headed to the metro to the Siam Museum. The museum is all about what is Thainess and was a very interesting exploration of what makes something Thai and how the old meets the modern. It was really fascinating and also very fun and interactive. I definitely recommend it to anyone visiting. My highlight was the different traditional outfits you could try on at the end and take pictures in. We then went to the attached cafe for lunch, which was a bit fancy but very delicious. We then headed back for a nap and rest before that evening's dinner, which we ate at the pop-up street vendor opposite our rooms. It was cheap, delicious, and such good value.    Baca lagi

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Hari 90

    Arriving in Bangkok

    3 Mei, Thailand ⋅ 🌩️ 38 °C

    When we arrived, the first thing that hit us was the heat! Standing and waiting for our taxi, I thought I might melt. The region was currently experiencing record-breaking temperatures of 40°+, but we arrived just at the tail end, with most days reaching 39-42° and getting down to 36° at night. So basically, it was still boiling.

    We made it to our rooms in a recently renovated building that was still undergoing some cosmetic work on the ground floor. The room was very nice but strangely laid out with two king beds at the back wall of the room, end to end. They were also really high up, sitting about waist height, so you had to jump up a bit to get on them. The AC worked excellently though, so we were going to be alright.

    Having arrived at about midnight, we slept in late and awoke starving and in need of breakfast. We emerged from our room to more heat and humidity that instantly clung to our skin. We found a hotel buffet that let us eat next to a pool, which we were very jealous of, and then wandered around getting our bearings. We then headed back to do some admin and figure out what we were going to do for the next four days in Bangkok.

    In the late afternoon, we ventured out, hoping it would be a bit cooler. We first stopped off to get some midday cocktails, (why not we're on holiday). As we were super central, we wandered down to the royal palaces, but before we could hit the main road, a man with a walkie-talkie told us we couldn't walk down there and had to go another route or stand back. We eventually figured out it was because the king was leaving the palace and driving down that road. After five minutes of waiting, literally 50 red cars drove past very quickly, and among them was a fancy cream car where we could just make out the profile of a man. The King! Less than 24 hours in the city, and we'd already seen the king. We learned later that the three pillars of the country are the nation, religion, and king, which one could argue are the same thing. They're pretty strict, and you can't even step on a banknote because it has the king's face on it.

    We wandered down past the palace to the pier, where we got a cheap speed boat to another port near our hotel, then stopped off for a tasty dinner and bed.    Baca lagi

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Hari 87–89

    Taiwan part 2

    30 April, Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today, we planned a day trip out of Taipei to go hiking and visit some scenic towns. So, we donned our hiking boots and took the train to Hutong Cat Village. It was previously a booming mining town, but when the mines shut down, visitors began feeding the cats, causing the cat population to boom. Now, they have shops selling cat food to tourists and cat cafes.

    When we arrived in Hutong, we first picked up some small cat pellets and then tried to feed them to the cats, as a pretext to letting us pet them. It worked fairly well, but as they get fed so much, a few of them were a bit snooty about our dry food. The cats were cool, just lounging around in the middle of the street or asleep by walls, but the sound of a bag shaking quickly stirred them.

    In the village, they also have a huge free mining museum, which used to be the processing factory for the coal. It still has a lot of the old rusted machinery in it, and the exhibition is built up around it.

    As we wandered around outside in search of friendly cats, it began to rain heavily, so we took shelter inside a nearby cat cafe where we had lunch while watching the rain. It felt super cozy.

    Given the amount of rain, we gave up on our plans for a hike and decided to go straight to Jiufen, which has amazing street food and lanterns decorating the town. It's said to have been the inspiration for the town in Spirited Away.

    It was beautiful, and the narrow winding streets had food and tea stalls and trinkets, which was a feast for the senses. We walked up and down and then realized how tired we were, so we decided to head back to Taipei for the evening. We stopped off at a local fast food chain called Mo Burgers where I got a shrimp burger and James got a rice bun fish burger.

    On our 4th day in Taiwan, we decided to rent city bikes and see the town. The bikes cost about 20 cents for 2 hours, and the cycle lanes through the city and the parks were perfect, making it irresistible not to keep riding for hours. We cycled up to the National Palace Museum where we ended our cycle and bought tickets and looked around at some of the precious artifacts held there. After lots of days of walking, our little legs were too tired to do anything else, so we spent another quiet evening resting and doing any last bits of laundry ahead of our flight the next day.

    On our 5th and final day in Taiwan, we spent the morning apart in search of different things. We were catching our flight at 9 pm that evening but still had a whole day to fill. So we left our bags at the hotel, and I headed off to a bookshop in search of a guidebook for SE Asia, and James went to an Electronics plaza. After a couple of hours and success on both ends, we met up on the metro and headed out of town to the city zoo. It was £2.50 (!) for both of us to get into the zoo, which is insane and such good value. The zoo was huge and hosted a vast array of animals, some of which were more local to Asia than what we usually get in Western zoos. The enclosures were pretty big and well-stocked with structures and vegetation for the animals. The highlights were the aviary, where we finally managed to see the national bird of Taiwan, the mandarin duck, and another colorful pheasant that is the closest relative to the dodo. My highlight was achieving my trip objective of seeing a sloth! As they're only native to South America, a zoo version was the best I was going to get, but it was still pretty amazing seeing them in person and so close up. After we'd seen as much as we could at the zoo, we headed back to collect our bags and get to the airport. The airport was very quick and easy to get through and very empty. It only had one food outlet which played the same track on loop which basically only consisted of a chorus, that went '...I'll be happy tomorrow, so let's be happy...' 😵‍💫 The flight was thankfully smooth and pleasant and was a great way to start our time in Thailand.    Baca lagi

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Hari 85–86

    Taiwan!

    28 April, Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Sun 28 April

    Upon arrival at Taipei Airport, the first thing we noticed was how busy it was. Lots of people seemed to be arriving from other flights. Before reaching border control, we had to go through meat and veggie screenings to ensure we weren't bringing anything in. We then walked past a dengue fever and illness screening desk. Although I had researched that we didn't need a visa to enter Taiwan, waiting at the border made me nervous that I'd missed something or that we needed to fill in some form in advance. Thankfully, we didn't, and they just gave my passport a pretty cool stamp, and off we went.

    After retrieving our bags, we picked up a pay-as-you-go card for transportation and a phone SIM card. We were super surprised by the fast data speeds we were getting.

    After taking a beautiful train ride into the city, which carried us high above the lush hills, we decided to grab some food before checking in. James found us a highly-rated but fairly traditional restaurant where we ordered a traditional Taiwanese beef noodle soup. It had the softest beef I'd had in ages and jelly bone marrow as well, which I personally wasn't as big a fan of. Then we checked into our private room at the hostel, which was wonderful for the price. Even without a window at £37, it had a private bathroom, towels, shower gel, a tea/coffee kettle, and it was very clean and well-maintained, which is a lot more than I can say for some places we've stayed.

    We then spent a wild night doing ALL our laundry and basically washing everything because it all now had a whiff of the Hong Kong dungeon on it. Like an answer to my prayers, the hostel had washing machines and dryers. I forgot how long dryers take though, even at low heat, and even though we started at 7 pm, it didn't finish until 10 pm. I was so tired I fell straight to sleep.

    DAY 2

    I awoke with a headache and didn't sleep as well as I thought I would, considering how tired I was, but I took a painkiller and it went away. Our free breakfast was the strangest medley of things I've ever seen on offer. I think it was all more traditional Taiwanese breakfast stuff, but it was all savory, such as chili chicken pasta in a white sauce, veg and sausage in gravy, what I thought were hash browns but were actually a creamy cron thing, and more. It was all pretty delicious though, and I tried everything. James was boring and just ate the toast and jam, boo. The tea here is super milky and sweet too, so I'm in paradise.

    We then headed off to a free walking tour of the old city. It was a pretty big group of mostly 27- to 40-somethings who all seemed neat and were traveling around East Asia. As we were listening to the guide, something tickled my foot. I looked down thinking it might be a fly or something, but to my horror, it was a centipede! I flipped, shaking my foot and jumping around and throwing off my sandal too. It went off pretty quickly, but I got the fear of it now and had to put James between myself and it. Of all the people's feet it could have crawled on, it had to be mine, who has the biggest fear of them, FFS.

    The rest of the tour was lovely. The guide was really good at simplifying the complicated past of Taiwan's many invaders and people, and I definitely came away knowing so much more than I did upon arrival.

    It was about 33°C out, and even in the shade, quite hot. In the middle of the tour, we stopped at a local stall and had a mixed fruit water drink that also comprised of a jelly, which was delicious! After that, James and I lost our concentration a bit, but we did chat to a guy from the UK who grew up in Catford (where we live) and now lives in Singapore. We ended the tour in the younger neighborhood, where the LGBTQ community also gathers. We then headed to a nearby cafe and got some lunch, and as we were tucking in, what seemed like a practice procession of floats went by banging drums and in a dragon costume.

    After our lunch break, we headed to Monument Square, before going back for a nap in our room. After crossing the roads, which take five minutes because they're so big, and picking a bus to take (they only come every 20 mins), we arrived at the square and were immediately struck by how HUGE the buildings were. We walked around admiring them for ages, craning our necks to see the beautiful decoration of the roof and sat on the steps of the National Opera to admire the whole scene while nibbling on some traditional biscuits we picked up on the way. We then headed to the furthest monument of Chiang Kai-shek, sitting on a chair, very similar to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The scale of everything was pretty stunning. We read the style had been brought over by Chiang Kai-Shek in 1949 when he came over from China. After wandering around the building, we headed back to our room where I napped for two hours.

    At 7 pm, we headed out to Shilin Night Market to get dinner. The area is famous for its many food stalls and night shopping, and it did not disappoint. We got out roughly £35 cash but only spent half of it and managed to eat about six different things plus a drink. We started with a Taiwanese sausage in a rice wrap, which set us up with unique flavors for dinner. We then had fried crab leg, which was delicious. I didn't realize the texture of crab meat was so soft. We then had the longest, straightest potato chips (aka French fries) ever, with mayo and seaweed, so crispy and delicious. I got a very tasty cranberry drink. Then we had a bun with pork filling, which was so good, but the bun was more bready than I was expecting. We then moved on to dessert, starting with an ice cream sandwich and then shaved snow (frozen condensed cream) with fresh mango on it. It was huge and a real showstopper. It was a delicious evening, and as we left, we were discussing coming back to try all the other things we missed. Overall, a fantastic first day in Taiwan, which is making us fall in love with this country a lot.    Baca lagi

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Hari 83–85

    The rest of Hong Kong

    26 April, Hong Kong ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    With Hong Kong being one of the most expensive places in the world, let alone on our trip, we struggled a bit to figure out what we could do for cheap or free while staying out of our dungeon accommodation as much as possible.

    We started each day with breakfast at a nearby fast food joint, for £6 each which had an odd medley of things to eat. On our first day, we booked a free walking tour, which was really good and helped ground us in the location and understand it better. Highlights included going on the world's longest outdoor covered escalator system, the Central–Mid-Levels Escalator, and the Chinese temple, where we were instructed on how to pray and ask the gods questions. We also tried a local egg tart dessert that tasted mostly like egg.

    We then did some much-needed shopping for shorts, as we were now going to be in less modestly dressed countries. For dinner that evening, we went to a Chinese restaurant and ordered the local specialty, Won Ton noodle soup. We then went off for an evening walk and realized we were right by the shore facing the city lights. We walked along the huge boardwalk until we got tired and went to bed.

    Every night that we slept there, our sleep was worse and worse. That night night, I woke up feeling like something was crawling on me; the night before, something from the roof dripped on my head. I woke up that night literally saying to myself, "One more night, it's only one more night." As we were in a bed just a tiny bit bigger than a single, when I awoke, James woke up too and turned to me and said, "That was a shit night's sleep, but it's okay because that was our last night." I was like, "Wait, no, we have one more night." Turns out James couldn't sleep that night either and was so fed up he booked a hotel near the airport that had a pool and breakfast included. I literally could have cried with happiness.

    Our only urgent task for that day was to post some of our warm clothing and souvenirs back home, so we quickly did that, packed, and then, as our check-in wasn't until 2 pm, we got a celebratory ice cream and went to the art gallery on the waterfront. We then went off to the hotel and checked in. It was expensive, but after suffering through the past few nights, it felt very well deserved. The room was pretty incredible by normal standards, with a floor-to-ceiling wall overlooking the green hills. We donned our swimsuits and, even though it was on the verge of raining, we went to the pool and hung out there until closing at 5 pm. We then wandered around the shopping mall that the building was attached to and got some dinner, then returned to our room just to soak it all up.

    Breakfast the next morning was delicious, and we then packed and headed to the airport to catch our flight. Hong Kong, you were beautiful and fun but in a different way than we've experienced so far. Maybe we'll return one day when our budget is bigger.    Baca lagi

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