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South East Asia

1月 - 6月 2023
Here we are at last! I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the best S.E. Asia has to offer me もっと詳しく
  • 34足跡
  • 4国
  • 137日間
  • 249写真
  • 21動画
  • 7.9千キロ
  • 3.7千キロ
フォローする カレンダー 共有 死ぬまでにやっておきたいことリスト
日付の昇順
  • 旅行者South East Asia
    1
    日34

    Caving and a viewpoint

    2023年3月3日, ラオス ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    On Thursday we learn from our mistakes from Tuesday, setting off earlier and hiring a Tuk-Tuk (or more like a flatbed van with a cage on the back) to drive us across the river and towards the valley which towels the lagoons and view point. We also teamed up with another group from Hostelworld to break down the cost further.

    After a quick stop at blue lagoon 2 we headed to interpark where I have been told about a cave which went on for hours. We accidentally went to the wrong one, missing the one right by the base of the mountain and trekking up for 20 minutes to one right at the top by the viewpoint. The cave only went on for about 15 minutes until we reach the large wall where we turned into a side opening and crawled through a gap which led us back to an earlier Cavern. It was a lot of fun to explore but I wish we had actually gone to the property which went on for longer.

    We spent a bit Too much time in the Cave and getting lunch afterwards so we had to skip lagoon number 3 and go straight to the Nam Xay viewpoint, A small peak with a hut and a couple of old motorbikes posted at the top.

    We chilled up there for about an hour watching the Sun go down and trying to cool off from the sweaty effort of the hike up.

    That evening I had dinner with just Harry then joined the hotel concierge for a beer where I got to understand a bit more about Vang Vieng. People come from afar, both China and Thailand, to party here and the town relies on this money. A lot of the surrounding villages are very poor but it’s not uncommon in the town to see powerful motorbikes or sleek sedans cruising around amongst the majority of old and battered vehicles.

    Anyway I feel like I’ve been burning the candle at both ends recently and I’m paying the price a little bit at the moment so I’ve grabbed myself a Lao sandwich And I’m sitting on the balcony of my room writing this. Harry managed to find this room for half the price of the hostel we were staying at which was too loud and on the high side of price. We got a top for room overlooking the mountains and a large bed each so we are living a bit of luxury at the moment.

    Oh and also I forgot to mention this before but getting food here is very annoying. I’ve waited a minimum of 40 minutes, usually over an hour, for food each night since being in the house with the only exception is being the Luang Prabang Night markets and the street sandwiches in Vang Vieng which hit the spot every time. Portion sizes are usually quite small too which only adds irritation after a long wait.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者South East Asia
    日36

    Not much to do in Vientiane

    2023年3月5日, ラオス ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    It’s been a quiet couple of days in Vientiane. I’d heard there was very little to do here so I did away with the idea of sightseeing completely and decided to commit to resting up before attempting the Thakhek loop.

    A little bit of miscommunication between me and Harry meant that I arrived at Vientiane with no accommodation booked and had to scramble around to find a room. Fortunately there was still space in Lucky backpackers hostel in the biggest dorm room I’ve had yet of 16. It wasn’t the best but at 100,000 kip or £5 it’s my cheapest hustle so far and I had an undisturbed sleep so all good.

    In fact I may have been the disturbance as that was the night I joined the remainder of our crew from Luang Prabang / Vang Vieng for an evening of pool and beers until 3 am.

    I also saw Arsenal perform a stunning comeback to win 3-2 against Bournemouth after being 1-0 down after 10 seconds, then fighting back in the second half from 2-0 down with Reiss Nelson scoring a beautiful half fully with the last kick of the game in the 97th minute to win the game 3-2.

    We did very little the next day too except for visiting a traditional spa with a herbal sauna (more like a steam room) and some interesting exfoliating rubs. I chose tamarind with other options being coffee, Rice and oats, which is why I look a bit like I’m rubbing poo all over myself in one of the photos.

    I also attempted cutting my hair again right before we left Vang Vieng But my clippers ran out and I couldn’t find my charger, so I had to deal with a slightly makeshift save of a haircut before finding a very good hairdressers in Vientiane. (I’ve included some evidence of the bodge job)

    I’d enjoyed spending time with the new group Add found in Laos but my time with them has come to an end as they all have slowly filtered off to Hanoi, some more sensibly by plane, others via the 24-36 hour sleeper bus through the mountains. I also say goodbye to Harry who has been floating alongside me since Chiang Rai.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者South East Asia
    日46

    More illness

    2023年3月15日, ラオス ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    (I’ve skipped my recounting of the Thakhek loop for now as it’s a lot of writing and I don’t want to delay the rest of the journey, I’ll upload it when I have a lot more time)

    So not much of an update in the last week because less has been going on. After finishing the loop and another very restful stay at Naga’s, We headed south towards Don Det in the 4000 islands. Now this journey turned out to be a bit of a pain, requiring three different minibuses an overnight stay in Pakse and a ferry at the end.

    The first minibus was the worst. We had been advised to take it instead of the local bus by a hostel host for some reason, but not only did it not take us to Pakse, our intended transfer point, it dropped us off at Savannakhet which was only about a third of the way there.

    To make matters worse the driver kept stopping to let people in until we had 24 people crammed into the back of a Toyota Hiace. Thank God it didn’t go all the way to Pakse as my knees and back barely lasted for three hours and absolutely would not of been happy with another five.

    The stay in Pakse was fine, you can tell it is the main city of the south of Laos more for functional and beauty purposes, but it was still interesting to have a look around and Dan and I found a nice bar with live music and friendly cats to chill at. The three hour trip to Don Det The next day felt mercifully short and we arrived on the lusciously green island city in the middle of the Mekong around noon.

    Dan and I relaxed for the afternoon before meeting some people we had met on our travels previously for dinner. We had a good night chatting and visiting a couple of bars one of my favourite nights out yet until disaster struck.

    Me and Dan both woke up at about 2 am feeling awful. Dan was throwing up, I was having major problems at the other end, and we both felt super dizzy and nauseous. This lasted for pretty much the next 48 hours, wearing off fairly quickly after 36 once we’d got around to eating.

    Dan thinks this was food poisoning but I reckon it was a mixture of dehydration, heat exhaustion and tiredness from an intense week. Either way I’d lost the two days are dedicated to this place that I worked hard to get to, missing out on some epic scenery and good vibes with the people we have met/reunited with on the first night.

    Oh well…

    Some Imodium and a four hour bus trip later I’m back in Pakse, mentally preparing myself for my 10 hour bus to Da Nang tomorrow. I’m finally leaving Laos and heading to Vietnam after 22 days. I can see why everyone goes to the north: it’s great. There’s lots to do (Mostly in Vang Vieng and some other parts I didn’t go to) and all the backpackers travel that bit as I quickly found out when I constantly saw the same people for two weeks. The south is less well travelled but undeniably worth it for some of the nature and adventure on offer.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者South East Asia
    日47

    Travel to vietnam

    2023年3月16日, ベトナム ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    I’ve been pretty bad at keeping up with my travel journal recently and have just about managed to write stuff down in my notebook, but I will try and fill in the FindPenguins whenever I can find time as I’m finally up to date in my notebook.

    So the journey into Vietnam was pretty horrible. The bus arrived at 4:30 am, half an hour late, and then I was crammed into a small coach with very little legroom, dancing my way through the Lao countryside. The beauty of the rule scenery was slightly mad by the comfort of the ride, and the fact that the bus kept stopping to pick up/deliver parcels.

    The border crossing was relatively smooth, but did take quite a while, and was not particularly pleasant: Muddy, crowded with lorries, and the air thick with dust and diesel fumes from the backup of vehicles stuck, waiting to cross.

    After arriving at the crossing at 10 am, I’m starting to drive out of the Vietnamese side at midday. I thought the worst of the journey was over, but we pulled over before we even left side of the building. It turns out the brakes/suspension/something hydraulic, looking hot, shade off the underside of the bus and we were stuck for the next five hours waiting for a replacement. I entertained myself with my book, the other travels on the bus, and going to explore a bit with a Vietnamese kid who found lots of “shiny“ rocks (that seem to be his favourite word).

    Eventually, we reached Da Nang 18 hours after setting off, eight hours later than expected, then I got a quick bite to eat before getting another
    45 minute Taxi To Hoi an to join Sophia.

    My initial thoughts of Vietnam were of the countless colourful LED signs, tall thin buildings, and the constant sound of car/bike horns all of which proved a stark contrast to quiet and underdeveloped Laos. I wasn’t quite prepared for the scale of the city of Da Nang either, far greater and busier than anything in Laos.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者South East Asia
    日48

    Getting fancy in Hoi An

    2023年3月17日, ベトナム ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    The next 48 hours, Sophia and I planned it with the rest of the vast tourist crowd in Hoi An, wondering around the beautiful town with its many boutique, cafés and tailors. We spent our time taking in the pretty lights and lanterns on one of the brief punting boat rides on the river (i’ve included a video of me failing to put a lantern in the water,), getting some temporary tattoos from the night market, and deciding not to wait in the long queue for Guinness at the Irish bar, even though it turned out it was Saint Patrick’s Day.

    We both also got stuck in with the tailoring. I got a full gold and blue Tuxedo and three beautifully patterned shirts with Sophia, choosing Various colourful fit of her own design. we just managed to try it on, pay for and organise postage for all of our close a matter of minutes before our ride to the bus stop for our travel to Hanoi arrived.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者South East Asia
    日51

    Brief Hanoi stop

    2023年3月20日, ベトナム ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    I didn’t find the bus super comfortable as I am about 4 inches taller than the beds were designed for, but little did I know this would be my most comfortable long bus in Vietnam as we had booked the best type. It looks a bit like a spaceship inside and fit only 22 people instead of 40 in a standard sleeper bus.

    He also somehow arrived, three hours earlier than Google Maps predicted so had some time to explore Hanoi, visiting an Instagram hotspot, café, and the history museum (where we were kicked out early because it was closed at lunchtime 🤷‍♂️). We then collapsed into a long nap most the afternoon, waking up to the many bright lights of nighttime Hanoi. We didn’t do much that evening. Just going for dinner and watching an impromptu street circus outside of the fully booked water puppet show we’d originally planned to go to, then enjoying the view of the city around one of the lakes.

    We were off again early, the next day on a six hour bus to Ha Giang, which I spent watching some Top Gear episodes I’d downloaded, including the Vietnam special (would highly recommend, it’s very entertaining).    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者South East Asia
    日52

    Ha giang loop Day 1

    2023年3月21日, ベトナム ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    The Ha Gian loop was another definite highlight of this trip. Three days of riding a motorbike through tricky, winding mountain passes alongside steep drops of to breathtaking views. Most people get an easy Rider, a local who drives the bike for them as the roads can be difficult and dangerous, but I was one of the five in a group of 20 who opted to risk fines from the Vietnamese police to drive myself.

    I did have to get a lift from one of the hostel star past the checkpoint, set up just down the road from a hostel on the first day, but after that it was smooth sailing, and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of driving the 350 km journey as a steadily increasing pace over the next three days.

    The mountain scenery was quite simply stunning, and we got off at various points to admire the vast valleys and sheer cliffs, going on a couple of short hikes, and one boat trip across a Hydro dam lake, situated in a colossal ravine.

    My group was lovely to. It was amazing to link up with Livi and Sophia again and spend some time with Bobby who arrived at the start of March in Vietnam, and had joined the girls.

    The additions of Jannika, Paulina and Sil as well as all the extras we met along the way made for a really good time off the bikes too, whether it was happy water (corn wine) and pool/karaoke the first night, or night markets and bar the second night. I can’t really do it justice with writing, so I hope some of the footage can.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者South East Asia
    1
    日79

    On the way to Rinjani

    2023年4月17日, インドネシア ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    ********************************************************
    I’m aware I’ve been terrible at posting on my FindPenguins up until now, but also I know a lot of people have been following this have been following Sophia’s travel journal, so I’ve been a bit useless about updating this, despite keeping up-to-date in my notebook. I’m trying to play a bit of a catch up now and will start from a more recent point then upload older entries when I have time.
    ********************************************************

    Our departure to Senaru, our base before the trek, was a little hectic as we still had to collect laundry, the bike battery went flat, so I had to get help kickstart it, and I had to get the taxi to turn around in the first couple of minutes to retrieve my hat, which I’d forgotten.

    The travel to Senaru was also chaotic in typical Asian style: bouncing around in the back of a minivan through the jungle, then stopping off at the Bangsal port where we had to wait an hour for another car, even though there were no other passengers, just our very friendly driver Catun who engaged in enthusiastic conversation in his limited broken English.

    We got there eventually, though, passing out to Little from early morning on the way, and after prepping a little bit, we went on a warmup hike to a couple of nearby waterfalls before it got dark which included a bit of barefoot, hiking, and wading through a river.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者South East Asia
    日80

    Rinjani day 1

    2023年4月18日, インドネシア ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Now I had been a little nervous about the Rinjani trek after reading in some online blogs about how difficult it was, and this wasn’t helped by some people returning the night before we left saying that it was one of the hardest things they had ever done.

    But either way we are off at 7:30 am, the next day in the back of a flatbed truck for about one hour before we stopped for a brief medical assessment, continuing down a dirt track to the starting point. (1200m above sea level [asl], started at 0936)

    The climb started steadily uphill through green pastures with the mountain rising ahead of us, occasionally getting cat called by the motorbikes who offered to give us a lift to the lunch spot.

    After one hour we reached Pos 1 (1400m asl) our first rest points before continuing at a slightly elevated pace for another 25 minutes to our lunch spot (Pos II, 1600m) which we could see from Pos I in the distance across the steadily steepening green slopes.

    After our first lunch spent guarding our stuff carefully from the Monkeys, who had seen the opportunity to steal snacks of tourists, we continued upwards. The going got steeper from here as we ascended into the tree line and into the clouds, and after 40 minutes we hit Pos III (2000m asl) for another break.

    The going got yet Tougher in the next 35 minutes to Pos IV (2200m asl), and then the last 70 minutes spent climbing the final 400 m to the crater rim were absolutely brutal (2600m, reached at 1530).

    I got the tent and collapsed immediately sleeping for an hour and a half, when I woke to dinner, prepared by the porters and a beautiful sunset across the crater lake. We also had a view of the summit, 1100 m higher than us, a daunting reminder of our task tomorrow.

    After sunset and a very good curry dinner, we headed to our tents, and I fell immediately back asleep at 7:30 pm, slightly dreading and questioning whether I should attend the summit in the morning.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者South East Asia
    日81

    Rinjani, the summit

    2023年4月19日, インドネシア ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    I knew when I woke at 2 am that I had to try summiting, even though Sophia had decided not to. We set off at 2:40 am the way lit only by our head torches and the faint light of the stars. After a short flat section, the route wind, very steep uphill, and the ground surface was like a sand dune, making the first 400 m climb, tough and slow.

    The next section was easier moving along a gently inclined Ridge for another hour covering for more distance, but only climbing 300 m.

    The last section was mentally and physically incredibly difficult. The peak Richard seem to slowly grow over the last hour loomed over us, seeming so close, but so far. The Dutch couple who I had joined, and I battled our way uphill on the loose rocks and sand at 50% incline, sliding back one pace for every two we took upwards. The last 500 m of elevation took another hour and took every bit of mental and physical strength. We had to summit just as the sky was starting to light up with the colours of sunrise. Despite the growing to get there, the summit (3761m asl) was absolutely worth it and I was rewarded with a view of the volcano in the crater next to the lake, and a stunning panorama of Lombok and its neighbouring islands of Bali and West Nusa Tenggara.

    After 40 minutes of admiring the sunrise, taking photos and avoiding stepping on the dead monkey that had somehow reach the summit, we began our descent. The street bits were easier this time as we slid down the loose surface with the easiest scent of the Long ridge burning our legs on the way down as we tried our best not to slip over. Arriving back to ours later yet again slept for another 40 minutes to be woken up by porters for a banana pancake breakfast.    もっと詳しく

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