Eek!! Scuba Diving! SSI Open Water!
17 giugno 2018, Indonesia ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
Now I am prewarning. We don't have pretty pictures for this section of the blog as we signed up the Open Water Course and you can't take your camera during dives. I added a Google pic of a titan trigger fish as it was my fave find!
So we woke up at 6am ready for our first day. We were both pretty nervous especially because we've bothhad a horrid cough for the past 2-3 weeks... But we went for it anyway. First we just had technical sessions with our instructor Loise and then kitted up and hit the pool. First thoughts... It's super hot, I'm melting in this gear and jeeze it's heavy! Once we got to the pool it was soooo nice to be in the cool water. If honest I've been so excited but then again so nervous. For the technical skills I was a bit all over the place as I just couldn't sort out my buoyancy. Nightmare. I came out of the session just deflated and slightly upset as I'd been so excited I thought I might not make it...
We went for lunch and then in the afternoon we headed to the sea. The tides were pretty big and my worst nightmare after yesterday's fiasco of getting in, but our instructor was just incredible and got us both in together in less than 10 seconds. Next task, getting our flippers on in the water! This is unbelievably hard for me never mind Will who can barely touch his feet. But that's why every scuba diver has a buddy. We got it sorted eventually and we're ready to begin the dive. Next hurdle attempting to equalise! It was tough but I got there in the end and oh my god the fish, the coral!! SOOOO COOL!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure it was nothing compared to what others have probably seen but I've never really done this kind of thing and it was just mind blowing (literally at times when I couldn't equalise...). I saw starfish for the first time and trumpet fish and fish of every colour. Amazing. But... Will was finding it really tough and found it really difficult to get the right posture for diving downwards and then using his fins to kick through the water and ended up riding to to the top everytime he tried. At one point I felt his pain and I went to get him and we held hands while diving and it was honestly such a lovely feeling. Holding hands while swimming through this beautiful setting was just amazing. Next hurdle was to get out! We swam a couple of meters from the shore, took our fins off (this is sooo difficult with waves crashing all over the place) and then quickly headed out. We drank our well deserved cups of tea on the ocean shore.
Dive number 2 was at the US Liberty Ship Wreck to do our first 11 meter dive. Getting in was really hard again and this time putting on the flippers was near impossible but we got there in the end and we're ready to dive down. This time it was much harder to equalise so it took me a while, but I got there in the end. Visibility was virtually 0 for quite a lot of the way, once we dived far enough and saw the magnificent ship we all held hands together so as not to lose each other. It was sooo much fun!! We saw a flounder, more star fish, amazing coral and underwater plants and wow just wow that shipwreck was impressive! After a while we let go of each other and unfortunately Will lost his posture again really struggled to get back down. I was so sad and it was so scary because visibility was really poor so we couldn't really see each other properly. Luckily our instructor could, once I got my eye on him I wanted to help him again but wasn't allowed. Unfortunately this wasn't a beginner course it was the real certification and so we had to be able to do it on our own. He powered through and we all surfaced together once out of the shipwreck. I was super chuffed with my achievement but Will was just defeated but we just kept chatting and I was sure I he would get it and it would click. That was our last dive for the day so we headed up shattered and in need of dinner. So we headed home, had a treat of Mackerel for dinner and then realised we really need to get money to pay for the course! We went to 2 ATMs, the only ones in Amed and still none were working so after an hour of wandering round we headed home and got back to the books for our final chapters ready for the test tomorrow. Nightmare... It was 9pm and I was already slightly behind from falling asleep the night before... 😭 Obviously I fell asleep on it again, but then got a second wind after a 20 second nap 😂
Well we both definitely slept like babies. I was super psyched for my second day but super scared about the test. I did test questions throughout breakfast and the journey to the dive school. Will had been watching videos to help him with his posture and we chatted about how I do it. When we got there our instructor told us the waves were even bigger so we need to just see how it goes. Luckily by the time we were kitted up it had calmed down a bit and was just the same as the day before, visibility a bit poorer but doable. We kitted up (I swear got heavier!). If we thought getting our fins on was hard the first day with these big waves it was much harder but eventually we got them on. Time for the dive, equalising was super tough today but the swim went so well for both of us! Will got the knack of it towards the end and we saw a scorpion fish, cornet fish, parrot fish, star fish etc. I was so so proud of Will and we both came out pretty happy! Don't get me wrong we are nowhere near perfect but we can do it!!
After a swift exit out of the water we had a quick cup of tea before heading for our final dive for the day. Now technically this should have been our final day for the certification but Will and I both agreed the night before that we would feel more comfortable having extra and the instructor felt the same. So we went back in the coral garden for our final dive of the day and I just couldn't control anything. My equalisation was all over the shot at the beginning, then I just couldn't get my buoyancy right, then we were getting deeper and deeper (we reached 18 meters on this dive) and my mask just wouldn't stop filling up! Now although you are trained to empty it, which I can do, but when you have to do it constantly, the current is really strong, you forget how to swim it just goes wrong. I found it unbelievably tough. I kept falling behind, visibility was quite bad so I had to just keep putting my whole body into it and it was just shattering. I came out this dive absolutely silent and wrecked. Luckily it was the last dive for the day but it really knocked my positivity out for six! On the flip side Will did amazingly well!! He kept up with the instructor the whole time he was over the moon but we were both happy to be coming back for our final dive tomorrow!!
We then had lunch before the dredged test. Gosh me and Will are so different when it comes to prep. I like to prep and then do nothing just before to relax. Will likes to work up until the moment he gets the paper and was asking the instructor more questions just before we got the paper, which made me so nervous. But the results were positive and we both got over 90%!
We then went on an ATM hunt and were eventually able to get out the required cash. For any Brits that go to Amed, get out cash beforehand as its a nightmare!! We had to ring the banks...
After paying up we were both proud with our personal achievements and we left super happy but utterly destroyed. We got dropped off at Indomart for some snacks and Ice cream. Guess what?! We got a free one again!!! Sooo amazing so we celebrated with our ice-cream in bed reading our books. I chatted to Lizzie and just lost track of time, it was dinner time already! I'm now in the local restaurant waiting for our dinner that we ordered 45 mins ago. I think I might eat my arm soon... So much for a super early night! Eventually we got our food and were tucked up in bed by 9pm. Perfect!
We both woke up excited with adrenaline and also with the knowledge that we just have one more dive then we can relax and sleep again! We were praying for good weather conditions so we could dive at the liberty Wreck for the last dive. We got to the centre, geared up and walked to the Liberty Wreck to check. We had about an hour to gear up, get in and do the dive before the waves got bigger. Everything went perfectly. We both equalised much quicker than normal, we finished off our final skills assessment, my buoyancy was much better and then for the dive to the ship. Visibility was sooo much better and Will swam sooo well! We were both so relaxed and just got to fully enjoy the shipwreck. Swimming through the ship Wreck and seeing a Titan Trigger fish was my absolute highlight. We also saw angel fish, surgeon fish, cleaner fish, goby fish and much much more. Unfortunately we don't have any underwater shots as we couldn't during assessment dives but wow what an incredible experience!! We started heading out and I realised I had used a lot more oxygen than normal and the currents were getting quite strong. I really struggled and unfortunately kicked slightly too much on an angle and started ascending too soon. I was gutted, ascending higher and higher not really understanding why I couldn't descend. I began to wonder whether this would result in a fail. I had to switch off these thoughts and just swim as hard as I could as the currents were getting pretty strong and Will and Lois felt really far away. After a while I saw the others begin their ascend and I felt so much better. It wasn't till we all got together that I found out I was ascending because my tank was really empty and so much lighter! Phew, I didn't fail and we both passed! Then it was the hurdle of getting out. The current was pretty strong so it was quite a struggle but we did it and it's now time to celebrate. We are both now SSI Open Water Certified. I am so so proud of us both and to see our development in just 2 days ☺️ I couldn't ask for a better Dive Buddy and a better instructor!
We took a couple of pictures (finally) then chatted with Lois about possible dives we could do around Bali. Finally we ended by ordering a super fat and celebratory lunch. A chicken burger with, bacon, egg and chips and a pizza. We are definitely not the same eaters we were, we were in a huge coma and headed straight to the homestay for a well deserved nap! We then changed into our winners tshirts and read our books for a while. Both myself and Will have felt pretty run down in the last couple of days so we asked our host if there is a local doctor. She took us straight to her sister in law who is a local nurse who was able to give us exactly what we needed for our ear and chesty cough. We got back, read our books for a while, had yummy gado-gado for dinner and then went straight to bed.Leggi altro
Reading, snorkeling and studying!
16 giugno 2018, Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
So today we enjoyed time on the roof terrace reading our books before having to check out. It was sooo nice and such a shame that we had to move away from our perfect view but ah well. We checked in and then headed straight for lunch. Ayam Bakso time. Its an Indonesian soup with chicken meet balls, egg, noodles doused in an amazing mango mollasces and a hint of chilli it's super tasty and super simple!
Then we headed to the beach for a swim and relaxation. Ah this is the life ☺️ We sat and chatted with a guy called Matt who was quite an experienced diver and calmed all our worries and recommended some more dive centres. We went to visit them, went for another swim, watched sunset, went for dinner and then just as everyone else in the world was probably doing we headed to the pub to watch the match. It was a bit of a boring game but it was nice to meet up with Matt again and chat about his diving adventures! Unfortunately we weren't able to book ours for the day after but hey just gives us another day to chill and swim.
The next morning we had breakfast, read our books (I'm reading the Enders Game at the moment, I really like it!), FINALLY booked our diving course, headed for lunch and then to a Japanese Ship Wreck for a snorkel. Now... I'm not the most confident swimmer, I can swim but I still get scared in the deep water. We got to the snorkeling site and the waves were pretty strong and to be honest I was pretty scared, which never helps. We hired snorkels and they gave me flippers. I've never used flippers and bloody hell they aren't supposed to be used for walking. I nearly fell flat on my face umpteen times! Eventually I got to the water (I literally had 1 meter to walk...) and I got terrified all of a sudden. I couldn't stand up and th waves were too strong and just kept crashing me down 😔 I got out and one of the locals came to check on me. He reassured me that once I got past this first bit it was really calm and I would be OK. He offered my a life jacket but I was determined! Snorkel on, flippers on and I just went for it and I'm so glad I did! He was 100% correct, I was barely a meter in and the sea was so much calmer and you could just float along. We swam to the ship wreck and it was super cool, there were fish everywhere, really lovely coral and it was just amazing to be floating around. We must have been out there for about an hour! It was really fun, so glad I went in again. When we got out Will very calmly said "Umm, so do you know where the scooter key is?", to which I obviously said no as I don't drive it. He then said very slowly as if to say don't panic but... "I think I left it in my swimming shorts. But now I've been swimming... And they aren't there." For goodness sake. I quickly empty the bag, run back to the scooter to check and honestly... it probably was in his shorts. We tried ringing the homestay but they didn't pick up and then panicked. Luckily a lot of locals were with us and they said owners always have a spare so we don't need to worry and even more so lucky a guy came out the sea who was also driving back to Amed (about 30 mins away and actually drove Will back to the snorkeling area to pick me up). So he very kindly drove Will to the homestay while I stayed put. I got chatting to the locals which was fun but then I was left with a bit of a crazy local called Julie who about 20 mins prior was talking to me but she acted like she had never met me so we repeated the same conversation and then she showed me endless pictures of herself in selfie style with a love heart frame. didn't . It was super weird lol. Luckily Will came to the rescue and our homestay provided us with the spare key. We headed for a quick dinner before attempting to begin our studies for tomorrow. We were hoping to get home for around 4pm to give us plenty of reading time but got home at 8pm 😭 it was a long 3 hours of reading. What are we studying I hear you say?! Well as we are doing our PADI we have a test to take as well as the 5 dives and there was quite a lot to read. I definitely fell asleep flat faced on my phone wups...Leggi altro
The moment I've been waiting for! BEACH!
14 giugno 2018, Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
So when you think of Bali, what do you imagine. Beaches, blue water, incredible marine life, relaxation. Well we haven't done any of that so off we go to Amed!!
Now in Bali the taxi drivers are know as the "Mafia" and they go absolutely ballistic if they see tourists using Grab. Like they actually have fights and screaming matches in the streets over it. So Grab, especially in Ubud, is not very common. However neither is public transport and the taxis charge an absolute fortune to go very short distances. So we ummed and ahhed about the best way of getting to Amed and decided to try grab. We booked the grab and the driver instantly rang Will. He said just wait in your homestay and I'll message when I arrive. We were pretty nervous so we did as told and it was perfectly fine! The driver happily told us that is was all ridiculous and pointless as they sometimes have to fight and it's literally over just £1-3. He said he had lots of friends in Kuta who are security guards in clubs and that they have offered to support him if he ever needs. It's crazy! Anyway we had a lovely drive round the coast of Bali and within 2 hours we were in Amed. Wow its so beautiful and oh my goodness the view from our homestay!! The homestay was on the beach with a roofterace facing the sea and the ginormous volcano, Mount Agung which recently had a phreatic eruption (explosion of ash and smoke but no lava). Its much much hotter hear than in Ubud which is in the mountains,but also has a refreshing coastal breeze. So we read our books for a while on the roof terrace to start off the day. Then we found out we wouldn't về able to book any more night so we quickly headed out in search of another for tomorrow. Luckily we found something quickly, not on the beachfront with a roofterace but very affordable and owned by a lovely family. We then headed for lunch and the food was sooo scummy but soo big!
Next stop on our to to do list was to find a diving centre. We have NEVER dived before and I am super super excited to try. Will is very nervous but I know we will be OK. So we went to a couple of diving centers got quotes and then headed back to the homestay, via the shop for a beer, and chilled out on the roof terrace reading our books, chatting, admiring the view and finishing off by watching sunset. Finally we headed out for some yummy veggie curry dinner, read our books some more and went back on the roof terraces for some star gazing (did not realise you can't see Orion's belt, mind blowing). We saw Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, the Crux (Southern Cross) and various other beautiful flickering stars.
(Apologies if this is boring for you but ah well) Now I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but the one thing that I love about travelling is the time you have, you have time to think, to reflect, time for yourself. So more recently we have been taking it easy, lying in if we need to, going to bed early if we want to, reading our books more and in the recent months have decided to dedicate time each day to core strength exercises and stretching for personal wellbeing. We both have slight problems when we walk lots (him in his foot and me in my knees), as we LOVE hiking we wanted to try and increase our muscles in the required areas and stretch everyday. At first we started quite light but now my exercises are getting pretty tough. Sit ups, crunches, cobras, planks, squats and stretches everyday but now in the triple digits eek! It's really tough but we are both definitely feeling stronger and more flexible from it which is amazing!! (Please don't expect me to come back super skinny as that's not my goal haha). Anyway enough of that back to normal blogging 😋Leggi altro
More temples, Cocoa and Monkeys!
13 giugno 2018, Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
As we were only supposed to stay in Ubud 2 days and it is now our 6th we decided to power on and see as many sites as we could! First stop was a temple hidden in the depths of the jungle.
The drive was really lovely although 2 hours to get the temple was maybe somewhat unnecessary. It was pleasant but not memorable. Next stop was something I've been wanting to do since coming to SEA, visit a cacao farm. We went to the local Cau Chovate farm which was small but cute with a small tour around the farm, free hot chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream and tasters of all their different types of chocolate with milk and palm sugar. The tour although simple was really interesting as I had never seen a Cacao fruit or seen the beans inside. We tried the beans raw straight from the fruit and they had a slimy white sour outside with a bitter purple bean inside. It was a very interesting flavour! Feeling very very full we headed to monkey forest.
I was slightly disappointed as I was hoping to see the monkeys perform something mischievous but actually they were pretty good monkeys and did not steal people's food or sunglasses ☺️
It was about 4:30pm and after a bit of umming and ahhing whether to head back to the homestay or whether to head to watch the herons we decided to watch the herons. It was a bit of a far drive but we got to the viewing platform with plenty of time to spare. We didn't have high expectations of this but had read that at 6pm 20,000 egrets fly in to this small town to sleep after a day of eating insects in the rice fields. And honestly I wasn't disappointed! It was amazing to see all the birds swoop in large flocks and take rest on the trees around. Unfortunately my picture don't show how impressive it was but it was one of those you had to be there moments!
For dinner we found a lovely lady on the side of the street selling chicken and rice and then headed back to the homestay for our last sleep in Ubud.Leggi altro
Lake, Mountain and Beauty
12 giugno 2018, Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
What a truly lovely day. We had our yummy breakfast and then headed on a a long drive to Lake Batur. The drive went through beautiful villages, along rice fields, along rivers, across bridges and past beautifully ornate temples. It took about 2 hours to get there but it was not a waste of time. It was so beautiful. Lake Batur is surrounded by various volcanoes including Mount Batur. Wow now that is a volcano in all its finest. We drove around the lake, drove back to to the top of the hills for some stunning views, had coffee at the top and then headed to the bottom of Mount Batur into the depths of its once spilled lava! The ground and plantation was covered in a grey sand and the lave rocks were huge on the side of the road. It was pretty cool! Hard to bike around but awesome to see. We then headed to Sebatu, originally for another water ritual but when we arrived it was getting quite late so we just wandered around above the temple to see the views. After a full day on the bike my bum was pretty sore so we headed back through the countryside for dinner and then to our homestay.
So... We were all tucked up in bed ready for a well deserved good night sleep when all of a sudden we could hear everything going on next door. And I mean everything. It was far from ideal and let's just say it took us a long time to nod off...Leggi altro
Temples and Water Rituals
10 giugno 2018, Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Today was a day of mini highlights. Firstly breakfast, soo yummy, we had Indonesian banana pancakes, omelette and toast and a plate of fruit. It was huge!
We then hired a scooter and headed to Gunung Kawi temple complex. It was like a scene out of Indiana Jones it was an area of rice terraces, with huge cocunut trees at various heights with the beautiful temple ruins in the middle. I just can't explain how ornate and beautiful everything is here.
On our way to Tirtul Empul Temple we stopped off at a local market and tried Bacso Ayam and something else that we saw everyone eating but God knows what it was. All I can say is that it was yummy.
Then we headed to the temple and had the most calming and beautiful experience. So this temple is famous for the water ritual where you say thank you for what you have in a pool at each of the water fountains. Now don't get me wrong we were in there for about an hour, it was late afternoon so it was bloody freezing, there were huge fish in the pool as well which was a bit weird especially when they got stuck in your sarong, but overall we both stepped out of the pool so calm and collected. It was an hour where you could just think, think about what you have and be thankful for what you have. When is the last time someone has said for the next hour just be thankful. Try it, it's so uplifting!
After the ritual we dried, dressed, drove back, had dinner, watched a couple of episodes of friends and went to bed.
Wow sooo much rain, it went on all night and is still going on this morning! Will see how it goes but maybe it will be a rain day.Leggi altro
Kuta to Ubud
8 giugno 2018, Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Yey!! It feels like we are travelling again, cars driving like crazy people, scooters everywhere, people honking horns, beautiful temples and rice fields along the way. Now don't get me wrong, having normality back when we were in Malaysia was nice but I do looove this madness of the real SEA ☺️ As Will just said "Ah it feels like we are home again", meaning Vietnam.
Ah I just can't explain how beautiful and ornate the buildings are here. From shops, houses, just about every building is carved with the most beautiful designs. When we arrived at our guesthouse it had beautiful fountains and plants in the garden area. However when we got to the room it was basic. Back to the life of a backpacker in our box room, cold showers and windows that don't shut properly. Luckily I only booked one night. We had a nap and then headed out for dinner. There was food EVERYWHERE! But I wanted to go to a particular warung and wow it was soo yummy and a perfect meal for me. We ordered the Goda Goda and Nasi Campur and it was sooo tasty with lots of little bits and bats. Best meal we have had in a long time and so nice to have vegetables and fresh non deepfried food! We then wandered round the town at night and honestly the buildings are just so cute and everyone is so nice here. Even the taxi drivers ask politely if we want a lift and if not they say have a nice day. Only been in Indonesia 2 days and I'm loving it.
Well last night we both slept terribly in our box room, it was hot and a girl next door was skyping throughout the night and then again at 7am. But that wasn't the worst part. Will found a bed bug on his trousers!!! We quickly packed our stuff and headed out. We are now praying that we don't find it anywhere in our stuff... We quickly booked another guesthouse and we were welcomed with such loving happy faces. We were given a lovely room, fresh watermelon juice and teas and coffees! OK so it wasn't a great start to the morning, but such a nice relief once we got to the new guesthouse. They even invited us to their family temple and dressed us up in their local attire. It was all just beautiful.
In the afternoon we headed out for lunch, walked around the town and then got dressed up again in in the traditional attire ready for the procession. So when we were told about it we thought we would be watching it, nope we were in it! We walked with our homestay family from temple to temple along with all the locals from this particular village. The women looked so beautiful in their traditional outfits, it was such an honour to be part of it. Such a lovely end to the day.Leggi altro
Country Number 6 - Bali, Indonesia!
7 giugno 2018, Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Its time for our next country on the list Indonesia. As it is still Ramadan and soon to be Eid we decided to make our first destination Bali to avoid all the holiday closures and try some diving and hopefully our Open Water PADI.
It's interesting when we have talked to people about Indonesia everyone said you HAVE to go to Bali and we said nah its too touristy we won't be going, but after some real research we've realised there is a reason people come here. It has some incredible areas for snorkeling and diving and the landscape is supposed to be stunning in the north. So here we are! The flight was so easy. When we saw Viraf we offloaded a tonne of things to them so we only had 2 kg of weight to wear instead of the previous 7kg! 😂
Just arrived at our guesthouse and ready for bed ☺️
Best night sleep!! I fell asleep at 10pm and didn't even stir until 10:30am! We then made a quick decision to get on with our travels and go to Ubud today instead of staying one more night in Kuta. So we moseyed on down to the beach had lunch and then headed back to our guesthouse where we ordered our grab to Ubud.Leggi altro
3 Days of Luxury Before Budgeting Again
5 giugno 2018, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Soooo excited, we had the perfect sleep, had a bowl of cereal (it really is the little things you miss!) and how could we not... Yep we jumped into the Infinity Pool. Ahhhh it was sooo amazing!! The views were incredible it was sooo amazing!!! For two days we relaxed in the pool every morning, went to the National Art Gallery, wandered around a park, went shopping (can't remember if I said but I have been living off 2 shirts for the past 2 weeks!), were able to wash our clothes in Hot water and then dry them in an actual dryer and ate amazing Korean food. I don't have much else to say a part from... I don't think we should get used to this haha. Its incredible in just 2 weeks in Malaysia we have spent the equivalent to what we would spend in a month in Vietnam!! OK yes we did some indulgence but jeeze!! Good job we are only here for 2 weeks.
Bye bye Malaysia, although you didn't want to feed us we ended up having a great time!! Next stop country number 6, Indonesia!Leggi altro
Ipoh and back to KL
4 giugno 2018, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Unfortunately it's our last day together so on the way to the airport we went to a temple in a cave and then to the famous Ipoh for White Coffee, an egg tart and Hor Fun. Ahhh it's like being back in Vietnam! The coffee was sooo sweet, chocolately and creamy. The egg tart super eggy and to be honest by the time the Hor Fun came I was so full I could barely eat it but it was also really different and tasty. Hor Fun is a thick noodle soup with chicken and prawns. We wandered round Concubine Lane before driving back to the airport. A sad sad moment when we had to part ways but it's been such a lovely weekend and sooo nice to see Viraf and Amber!!
Well after a weekend of true luxury and only 3 nights left in Kuala Lumpur we decided to finally pay a bit extra and go the whole hog on luxury. We rented a private room in a beautiful apartment with a view of the sky line of KL, a washing machine, a dryer, a gym and an Infinity Swimming Pool on the 37th floor. And guess how much it was... £20 a night. Heaven heaven heaven!!Leggi altro
Mossy Forest and Strawberries!
3 giugno 2018, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
The next day we headed via a market for deep fried chicken (seriously why is everything deep fried) before heading to the top of Mount Brinchang. Well the drive up was basically single track and after a couple of car bottom scrapes we got to the top... LOL!! Typical!! At the top it was closed off. Mossy Forest was pretty good though so luckily it wasn't a wasted drive. Then we headed down for lunch and to the Strawberry Farm which was definitely the highlight! We paid extra so we could go in and pick our own which was fun... One for the box, one for me, one for the box... Viraf and Will wondered why the box was looking so empty 😂
For dinner we headed to the Ramadan Bazaar to take back to the flat and ended the final evening playing pool in a local bar with a FIRE! Ah a fire! It was actually a bit cold in the mountains so this was just amazing.Leggi altro
Cameron Highlands - Afternoon Tea
2 giugno 2018, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
We definitely belong up in the mountains, but this time it's not for some crazy hikes but for a weekend of luxury, drinking tea, coffee, eating cakes and driving to see views! Just what the doctor ordered. First stop Boh Tea plantation for tea and cake brunch. After 5 months of not driving it was amazing to to be back behind the wheel and be the driver again!! The roads were so nice compared to where Will has been driving on the scooter. Yum yum yum and wow what views! I've never seen a tea plantation. It's so beautiful how they grow on the hillside especially from a glass cafe overlooking the rolling hills. It was so nice to catch up with my brother, we laughed lots. When being away for so long having some sort of normality again is such a relief and feels so good. I can't imagine travelling without him now.
After Boh we went to the local Butterfly Garden. The butterflies were so tame here and such posers! They were happily flapping for pictures haha They also had various insects including a Rhinoceros Beetle, escaping scorpions (literally escaping from their glass case) and beautiful flowers.
We then headed for coffee and on the way back we found a Ramadan Bazaar which was beginning to close but were able to grab some yummy mango juice just in time. The mango juice over here is soooooo gooooood!!!! I'm addicted to the sugary, thick, creamy juice.
Luckily our beautiful apartment was right next to a huuuge night market. But... this market only deep fried vegetables, deep fried chicken, fresh vegetables or strawberry related products... Not ideal for dinner but we grabbed a couple of things for dinner, some beers and had a super chilled evening.Leggi altro
Cable Car, Waterfall and finally FOOD!!
29 maggio 2018, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
What a storm! All night there was thunder and sooo much rain, but luckily by the time we were heading out it was all cleared and sunny.
We jumped on the scooter and headed to find the steepest cable car in South East Asia. It was pretty impressive, really steep and the views at the top were pretty spectacular of the islands of Malaysia and Thailand in full view. Unfortunately we didn't see any birds or wildlife. Then we headed to see the seven Wells waterfall. Obviously we hadn't eaten as we couldn't find anything... the highlight of the day was on the way back home when we happened to pass a local Ramadan Bazaar. Food food food!! We bought lots of bits and bats and headed to the beach for a sunset picnic. Bliss 😊
The next day we headed to the North of the island in search of another mountain view via a recommended Laksa Restaurant. The restaurant was closed, so we just carried on to the mountain. The drive was fun and windy, but the top of the mountain was such a disappointment! The tower was shut!! So you couldn't really see much 😭 Starving we headed towards a really lovely beach at the north of the island and went for a well deserved swim. Before sun down we headed back and found another local Ramadan Bazaar on the way home, but it was pretty late so everything was closing. Still feeling positive we headed to the night market near our hostel. Guess what... It was closed! So we watched sunset on the beach and then went for pizza 😊 Look we tried to get local food but everything was against us. Well we've had pizza in every country so far so we needed to have a Malaysian one too hehe
The next day we packed ready for the airport back to KL, had a lazy brunch, sat at the beach and then headed to the airport wearing our 7kg worth of extra weight as we only had 7kg allowance again. Luckily we were prepared after last time and knew exactly what to do.
I am so so so excited to see Viraf and Amber for our weekend to the Cameron Highlands. I've not felt homesick this entire trip, but knowing I was going to see family made me feel so home sick in the week up to today. It was sooo nice to see him come through the arrivals door. It was 10pm and we headed off in the car to the Cameron Highlands. It was a looong drive and seriously Google Map the route. Jeeze it was turn after turn, after turn, after turn, we were all soo car sick by the end. When we arrived we went into our posh apartment that Viraf had booked. Ooo luxury!! Sooo excited to get sleep!!Leggi altro
Sleep, Swim and Recuperate - Langkawi
28 maggio 2018, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
So glad the ferry journey was fine. When we arrived we jumped into a grab, got to the homestay which wasn't quite ready for us so we headed out in search for food. So this time we found food, it was recommended, but it was god awful. We ordered Roti Canai but they didn't have any left (it was the start of lunch...I think this was a lie), then went for a naan with chicken curry instead. The naan was barely cooked and the chicken curry was the most upsetting thing I've seen. Firstly it came 40 mins after my naan, then when it arrived it was one piece of chicken in a watery sauce. God I miss mums food!!
Then we headed to the beach (that took us forever to find 😭) where we swam and caught up some R&R.
Not sure what is happening at the moment but we are both so on edge, having very little sleep and not being able to find food when we need it does not help matters! We definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed today with under 2 hours sleep search for food at 1pm and ended up going to a French cafe for a sandwich. Not ideal! To bring back our memories of Vietnam we hired a scooter for a couple of days so we can ride around the island in hope of it making our lives a bit easier. Fed and with a scooter we headed off to see a Rice Garden Museum. Maybe we are expecting too much... Or maybe we've just seen incredible things in Vietnam I'm not sure, but it was terrible. It was a field the size of my back garden with a poor rice Padi inside. So we decided to head to a public park for a stroll where we saw a pair of wild Giant Hornbills, afternoon tea at a cake shop and then dinner at the local night market. A lovely end to a very slow morning.Leggi altro
Viaggiatore
Interesting colour, pink beer, yuk, prefer a nice pint of Timmy Taylor Landlord,
Penang
25 maggio 2018, Malaysia ⋅ 🌙 26 °C
I can breathe!!! Yes it's hot but there is a breeze!!! I'm so happy I can't even explain how happy. We had a lie in and then went for brunch cake as recommended by Zara. Oh my goodness the cake, the amount of cake, the smell, the taste, the everything. They even had table cloth which was drawing paper and crayons on the table. I decided to get into the street art and draw Will. I'm proud of my drawing but he thinks it's awful. I'll let you be the real judges... So I don't mean to be harsh but it's quite obvious why people are, let's say larger than the Vietnamese. The food is sooo different here. They use fats, mostly Chinese, Thai and Indian food and they have luxury items like cakes, chocolate etc everywhere and their portion size is double the size than in Vietnam! People were easily around 40-50kg in Vietnam... Let's say they are definitely double that here! Maybe I'm going to gain that 2 inches back on my waist hehe After a bit of research I feel a bit better, Malaysia has the highest obesity in South East Asia.
In the afternoon we decided to head out with our street art map and find all the locations (52) via a few other sights. I'm loving Penang more and more with every corner I turn. The street art is pretty interesting, it has some interesting building, sights, its an island so has a seaside, its got super cool coffee shops but it seems they just don't sell food when and where we want it. We have a food map and everytime we try and go to a place it's closed. It's now 4:30pm and I can't believe we've tried 4 must go places and they are all shut. Now it is Ramadan, but I didn't think everywhere would be shut in such a big city... Just to top it off the heavens have opened again. We finally found a Ramadan Bazaar and had somosas and bhajias, worth the wait!!! 😊 Being the Brits that we are we were determined to carry on the street art tour in the pouring rain. It was fun but eventually got so wet and tired we took refuge in a cafe before meeting some friends for a beer. As there were 5 of us it was cheaper to get a Beer Tower! Super cool!
The next day we went for Penang Laksa (a bit too fishy for my taste buds), Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang Hill and then carried on our little tour around the street art. In the evening it rained again but we powered on through the final foodie on the list Passembeur. I honestly don't know how to describe it. It's lots of deep fried but not very crispy fish cut up into bitesize pieces with cucumber drowned in a sticky sweet goo. I wouldn't say it was offensive, I ate it, but it just wasn't great. But all Malaysians seem to love it so hey what do I know!
In the morning we got up bright and early for a quick breakfast before heading out to the ferry. I swear Malaysia hates us. Nothing was open! Not even our supposedly 24hours open restaurant attached to our hotel! 7Eleven for a croissant then... Will had been pretty nervous about the ferry being too bouncy and making him sick but it was great and pretty smooth! We watched Pirates of the Caribbean and Avengers along the way 😊 Next stop, time to relax and finally have beach time, Langkawi!Leggi altro
Can nothing go right today?
24 maggio 2018, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
It was one of those days... As we only have 2.5 days in KL today we were determined to make the most and just visit lots of things.
First of all as our room is like a prison cell it has zero daylight and so getting up early is just impossible (I refuse to put my alarm on while travelling unless absolutely necessary!) By the time we got out it was 11am, but we were determined it was still doable.
First stop Batu Caves, an unmissable experience supposedly. We got to to the train station and waited 45mins for the train. There was work on the train line so we then had to get a shuttle bus, we waited another 30 mins before it could leave, then we jumped on another train, waiting 40 mins again for it to leave... We got there at 2pm! Starving was not the word! So we decided to go for lunch and ordered the quickest thing on the menu, Roti Chani. It took 45 mins to get it!!! We then hiked up a million steps in the 90% humidity, watched a man get robbed by a monkey (who carries a banana around monkeys and doesn't expect to be robbed?!), got to the top and couldn't have been more disappointed. There was scaffolding all over the inside. 😭 Having seen a lot if caves and temples this was by far the least impressive especially as it took 3 hours to get there instead of the expected 45 mins and took 5 mins to see it... Although grumpiness was running high we put brave faces on and headed back. It took 39 mins to get back.
Next stop Medeka Square, a mosque and the national mosque. Humidity was reaching its max now and it was so difficult to walk. We wandered round and didn't hit too many barriers along the way apart from everything being shut! Luckily the National Mosque was open. I was so surprised how modern it was. It didn't have a dome or anything particularly Islamic on the outside. Inside a guide answered a few questions about Islam. Did you know that the crescent and star is a cultural thing and has no reference to the religious scriptures?
Time to leave and head towards the famous Petronas Towers... Just as we put our bags on ready to leave the clouds went black and a huge storm came in. There was no way we were going in that we would jusy give wet to the bone. So they let us just sit in a corner to sit out the storm. It took an hour and 15 mins... It was just about clearing so we went to the station to get the train. Next stop Petronas Tower for the light show at 8pm. We got to the platform and the train was going to be 35 mins. It was now 7:40pm,so we ran back to the road and jumped in a Grab. He wasn't quite sure where the light show was but dropped us off as near as he could. We then ran through the park and just missed it! Shattered, hungry and hot we just sat at the water fountains to relax. And guess what the show started again! It wasn't just a once a night thing. We were super happy and relieved that one thing went right 😊 Then we headed to the Alor Market for food. Unfortunately it wasn't what expected and was actually a street of restaurants so we found one that sold Laksa and Prawn Mee. The laksa was just incredible so so tasty! Feeling energised we wandered round the streets and found a live open mic type band on a street corner. A really lovely end to a not so well planned day 😊
The next day we had booked our bus to go to Penang so we just went out for lunch and ate Char Kuey Teow and Chilli Pan Mee. The humidity was so unbearable today so I was so glad to be in air conditioned bus.
To Penang!!Leggi altro
Good Morning Kuala Lumpur...Unexpectedly
23 maggio 2018, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Country number 5 in the bag!
Woweeee what a change from the previous countries. There are no scooters, no horns blasting, driving on the left (and only the left not in both directions in one lane!), no pushing, the radio commentator and songs were in English, the car had seat belts, everyone spoke English, you can cross the road without fear of being runover and they even have contactless?!
So we were supposed to arrive at the more respectable hour of 7:45pm in time to checkin to the hotel and have dinner at a reasonable time. Luck was not on our side. The plane was delayed by 4 hours so we arrived at 10:45pm, struggled to get a taxi from the airport (an hour away from the city), eventually arrived at the hotel at 12:20am, couldn't get into the hotel and eventually got in at 1am. Although very tired we were starving as we hadn't eaten since 9am! Luckily it is Ramadan and sourcing food is not a problem. We went across the road for a yummy Nasi Goreng. Phew! What a day. Our plan for the morning is to attempt to get up by 10am visit the Batu Caves and then see Zara who lives in KL and who we met when hiking up Fansipan.
Wups... so I forgot that KL is an hour ahead and didn't wake up till 11am! I think I was tired! Nevertheless we got up, showered and were out by 12 and that's when the rain came. The heavens opened and there was a huge storm. It didn't last long so we waited and then headed to a local market nearby to have a wander and grab some food. Will ordered the Prawn Clay Pot with brown rice, it was super tasty! Then the heavens opened again, this time we aren't so sure it will stop... We are now stuck in the foodhall hoping for a clear opening at some point!
Zara came to the rescue and picked us up I her car. She took us to her home town Putrajaya where we saw the administrative city where the prime minister ministers and King lives. It was interesting to hear about the political changes in Malaysia recently, about Malaysian people, about Ramadan and she helped us plan the rest of our time in Malaysia! In the afternoon we went to the Ramadan Baazar for food! It was just after 5 and most people come here after work to pick up their food, take it home to their families ready to break the fast at 7:20pm. We bought soo much food!Cakoi - bread
Roti Baghdad with cheese and chicken
Lemang with beef rendang
Kuih pelita
Roti john
Although very tempting we didn't eat the food we didn't want to feel disrespectful so we decided to jump on a train back to the hotel (they even have a metro system!) and eat dinner there. We then spent the rest of the evening planning our next couple of days.
It's crazy how we different and developed Malaysia is compared to everywhere we have been. I honestly wasn't expecting it!Leggi altro
Final stop Hà Nội ❤️ Goodbye Vietnam
21 maggio 2018, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Everyone was a bit delicate for breakfast. We were all so excited for our doughnuts, but today it was noodle soup!! The look on everyone's face was classic. The noodle soup was very delicious but it just wasn't the fun carby breakfast we'd been having previously and needed after a beer sesh!
We then packed and said good byes before jumping on the bus back to Ha Nội. We did a big wash in preparation for our flight tomorrow sorted out some logistics and then headed into town for one last wander. The hardest decision had to be made. What was our last meal in Vietnam going to be?! How can we even choose?! If I could choose anything I think I would go back to Ho Chi Mình and eat Bun Thit Nuong, Bạn Xéo and a Banh Mi. Well actually we saw a street seller with various starter picks, including a crab spring roll which was super tasty and then we went for the one and only Phở, it would be silly not too! It was scummy!! We then spent the evening wandering round the old quarter, the lake, watching kids break dance on the street and soaking in the lively evening culture. It was a lovely end to our time here.
But that's not all! We still have one morning left before the flight so we got up early and decided to head to the sky deck to have a 360 view of the city and a reflection of the past 9 weeks. A truly beautiful end to our time here. We then went for one last coffee before the craziness of picking up our luggage, dropping off keys and heading to the airport. I can't believe this is our first flight on this trip! I soo much prefer going by land as you don't have to worry about security and luggage...
On our way to the airport now... waiting in anticipation... We've decided to fly with just hand luggage and for air asia it has to be under 7kg. Nightmare! Hoping our bags are under 7kg...
Update... So... All luggage weighed 21kg, so we did the typical backpacker thing and wore everything. I wore a dress, a tshirt, a skirts, trousers and a thermal top, wore the coats and stuffed all pockets full to the brim. Will even wore two pairs of shoes! (Look closely at the picture!). But we got through!! 😂 When we got past security we were so hot and sweaty and instantly trimmed down again. We then went to meet a couple we met in Cat Ba who happened to be getting the same flight. Typical...the flight is delayed luckily we have good company to pass the time.
I can't believe it really is the end of our time here. There is so much we still want to see and do. Ah well it just means we will have to come back!!
What an incredible journey we have had here. We've eaten the most fresh and tasty food ever, we've seen some incredible landscapes, we've driven bikes and come away injury free, we've had a few funny bus and train journeys, we've learnt Vietnamese, I've been converted to a coffee drinker, we've swam in the sea and kayaked, but the thing that has truly made our time special in Vietnam has been the people we have met along the way, travellers and particularly the locals. Mỹ Tho, Họ Chỉ Mình, Huế, Bac Ha, Ha Giang and Cat Ba were just a handful of the places where we met the most loving, friendly and generous people. They are places we felt like we lived and were part of a family, not just another tourist. If you're reading this and we met you along the way thank you so much for being part of our journey.Leggi altro
Cruising around and haircut time!
19 maggio 2018, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Today we had a very chilled morning. I forgot to talk about the homestay! The family are super lovely with 2 super shy children, one girl and one boy. The breakfast in the morning is incredible. So first we got fresh Vietnamese coffee then out came salad, omelette and bread. Normally that would be all, but then came out a freshly made doughnut, a cream bun, watermelon, mango and sticky rice! Let's just say we didn't need to have lunch while at this homestay!
In the afternoon we hired a scooter to go to the national park. We drove to the tip of the island, I drove the scooter (Yey I can do it!) and then walked up to a viewpoint. Did I mention its hot?! It was only a 45 minute walk and I felt like I was in a shower and my lungs were going to collapse and it was 4:30pm! It's 88% humidity and 33 degrees here. 😭
In the evening we met up with the guys for dinner and beer hoi. Honestly before I came here I would never choose to drink anything lighter than a Guinness, now having a cold refreshing lager at the end of the day is just what you need!
The next day we had our feast breakfast and started planning for Malaysia. We are flying to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday with Air Asia, who have a 7kg limit for handluggage... Crap... Currently our bags weigh 11-15kg... Looks like we will be wearing everything on the plane 😂 We borrowed some scales and were able to get our bags down to the bare minimum. Hopefully it's OK!!
We then headed out in search of a haircut for both of us. We found a man on the street cutting hair so Will was sorted. The guy was so delicate and detailed with the cut. Will got a makeover, eyebrows shaped, nose hairs trimmed, the works!
Then we found one for me. Haha it was an interesting experience. I do need to remember that it was only a fiver so I was expecting something simple. First he looked at my hair as if he had never seen curly or thick hair before. (He probably hadn't!). Then a girl washed my hair as if there was no tomorrow, throwing shampoo everywhere including down my ears. Then he sat me on the chair and began to cut. Well to be honest this was the OK bit. After the cut they washed my hair again or should I say she scraped my scalp with her sharp claws. I don't really understand why but she just kept scraping and scraping for about 10 minutes!! It was rather painful. Finally she stopped and then the blow drying began. I had 2 people blow drying my hair at once, the guy and the girl that washed my hair. The guy did one side very gently and calmly while the girl was just burning my scalp and pulling my hair out of my head. Again, I just sat and had to remember it's only a fiver... Eventually my hair dried and they began straightening it. They might as well have just pulled my hair straight! The straighteners were pretty cool so they just did a light touch. Actually the end result wasn't too bad for a fiver, but obviously in 88% humidity it lasted about 2 mins before the frizz and curls let loose. So glad to have shorter hair again though!
We then jumped on the bike to watch sunset and meet up with the others in town. I think we got a bit carried away with chatting and drinking beer! We tried a floating bar too which was fun and then quickly drove back for family dinner. We had sashimi with a soy and wasabi dip. We kept making the dip spicier and it just blew our faces off. It was fun 😂 Then we had fish soup, rice with a flax seed crumb, potato and pork and of course plenty of rice wine! As it was our last night we of course had to go back to our local bia hoi place. When we got there he was literally closing the shutters. We knocked and he saw it was us and happily opened up again for us! He was so sweet. 3 more beers and a couple of card games down it was definitely time to let him and us go to bed! Such a fun night.Leggi altro
Boats boats boats!
18 maggio 2018, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
It's time for a day on a boat, let's be honest that's why you come to Cat Ba! Cat Ba is one of the larger islands within Ha Long Bay home to the endangered Cat Ba Langur. The best way of seeing this area is by boat, so off we went on an all day boat trip. We swam, we ate amazing seafood, we saw the biggest fish I'd ever seen, we kayaked through caves, we chilled out and the weather was stunning, hot, very hot but perfect. Kayaking is sooo much fun!! I loved every minute of it 😁
When we came ashore we decided to visit the Canon Fort and watch sunset at the top. Did I mention its hot???! Woweee it's just impossible to walk at all in this heat. Well actually it's the humidity, it's just killer. When we got to the top obviously the clouds came in just as the sun was setting, but it was a lovely view of the boats and the bay anyway.
In the evening we went for Ban Xéo (the pancake filled with mushroom and pork) dinner and met Fabian and Katie who were staying in our homestay for Bia Hoi (beer) at what became our local for the next couple of days.Leggi altro
Cat Ba Island
17 maggio 2018, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
The next day we had booked a bus to go Cat Ba, our last destination before heading to Malaysia. So we got up super early to see Ho Chi Chi Minh Mausoleum. Even though we got there super early there was already a queue an hour long. As we didn't have much time we decided to skip seeing Ho Chi Minh and just wander round the grounds, see the Botanical Garden (actually just a park), have Bun Cha for lunch (yummy meat pattys, noodles and herbs in a fish sauce) before seeing Svenja briefly for one last time! I'm so glad we bumped into her, she's been an absolute gem and shown us how people really live in Hanoi even in all the tourist places. We then headed for our bus to Cat Ba. I think we are getting lucky with our transport. It was really efficient and quick! We arrived in Cat Ba and after a bit of an ordeal finding our homestay we were finally able to sit and chill. We met a lovely couple from Brighton, Fabian and Katie, and after a chat we headed out for dinner. We were in the local area of Cat Ba and when walking down the street in search of food we found an evening English Class. The kids were aged 12 and 13 and their level of English was very varied for only basic words to discussing the Illuminati and conspiracies theories of Donald Trump. Seriously, Will actually had this discussion with a 13 year old kid who genuinely believed in the Illuminati and that Hillary... God knows how they got onto that! I was just talking about our travels and showing them different countries and the Google maps of London! It was about 9:30pm when we realised the time and we still hadn't eaten so we walked back to the homestay as nowhere was open and the owner leant us his scooter to go to town for dinner.Leggi altro
Hà Nội - More food glorious food
16 maggio 2018, Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
The next day we went for breakfast on the street and ate an array of tofu, noodles, meats and herbs. Then we headed to pottery village, Ba Trang. It was soo nice. There was so so so much we wanted to buy 😭 we couldn't though as we can't justify carrying it all for another 2 months, so I just took pictures of what I wanted. We then headed back to see Ngoc Son Temple, which is a small temple in the middle of a lake. After we went shopping and did a couple of chores before heading for a lemon tea and then dinner.
Dinner was really fun. We decided to go to a famous barbecue restaurant. Even though one waiter spoke English we didn't have a clue what we needed to do. In the end we went for the set menu which we thought we chose a couple of meats from. Nope... We were very wrong. You actually get all the items from the menu, there must have been over 10 different cuts of meats plus you can order different salads, bibinbap, tea and endless desserts. It was crazy!! I thought I was losing weight in the south of Vietnam... Definitely not in the north!!! We were so full we decided to walk home from there.Leggi altro
Hà Nội - Food!
15 maggio 2018, Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
So we originally had big plans to do lots in the morning but this wasn't realistic... We had a super chilled morning, ate yummy Banh Xeo and then visited the Temple of Literature. I'm probably going to say this everyday and you're going to get bored of it, but seriously... It's bloody hot. I just cannot stop sweating. It's just disgusting!! After the temple we jumped in an uber to town to meet Svenja for the famous Hà Nội Egg Coffee! It was such a relief to get into the air-conditioned taxi. I didn't want to get out!! Egg Coffee, so it's really nice, but I still don't think it's as good as the coffee from the old men on the street which is so thick and chocolatey. We then headed to the old quarter to see the old market. We stayed there a while in the sweaty indoor market and Svenja bought a couple of things.
In the evening we headed back to the flat... What an ordeal, so the addresses in Hanoi aren't so useful as Google maps doesn't have half of the tiny streets and alleys. We were walking in circles for ages befote eventually finding the flat. All the tiny alleys and buildings look the same. Phew! We then headed out for Ban Cuan dinner. It is normally a breakfast dish but Svenja knows where to go. It's a pork and mushroom mix rolled in rice noodle and eaten with dried onions dipped in soup. It was super yummy!!
After that we wanted to experience Hà Nội at night! First we went to Ta Hien Street which is where all the local Vietnamese go for drinks with a quick stop at Roti King. It was fun, we drank beer and ate super spicy dried beef and pork balls. Then we went for Bo Bia which is sugar cane and coconut wrapped in rice paper (oddly super nice) and then for more Bia Hoi. Bia hơi is a daily beer that is brewed and must drank on that same day. I think we need to get the recipe for this.
We then headed to Phúc thần bar. We walked all the way to find it was closed!! We then headed to a rice wine bar and would you believe it... It was closed too. It was a clear sign it was home time 😊Leggi altro
Ba Be Lake
13 maggio 2018, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
We are so so tired. The Ha Giang Motorbike trip has really took it out of us. We had quite a reasonable lie in but a neighbouring house were singing karaoke all night so we had very little sleep. In the morning we were had plans to do a 15km hike, but it was too much so we decided to take a 4hr boat trip around the lake with the owner of the homestay. It really is the hot season at the moment just sitting still makes me sweat relentlessly!! On the boat it was nice and cool for most of the journey so it was definitely the right thing to do. We even spent sometime planning our next steps!
In the evening we booked our flight to Malaysia (woohoo we go in 2 weeks) and then had yet another super yummy dinner at the homestay. They grow and catch their own food and it's just super simple and tasty!
The next day I woke up with once again very little sleep. I know it sounds ridiculous but I'm actually beginning to worry about coming back, getting a job and having a "normal life" again. I think if I hadn't gone through a redundancy it would be fine, but annoyingly it does still upset me. The plan for the day was to get up super early, pack and go for a hike. We had no idea if we could make the bus back to Hà Nội at 1pm or whether we would need to stay another night. It all depends on how long the hike took.
Well we were up early and began hiking. It was hot, really really hot. I felt really nausea and had to keep stopping. We ended up cutting the walk early and booked our trip back to Hà Nội instead. Our main reason to get back to Hà Nội as soon as possible is to see Svenja again and be guided round by a local!
So having had only a pineapple we jumped in the minivan, which dropped us off at a boat, which dropped us off at a bus. The bus is an absolute dream!! We have the whole bus to ourselves!!! There is no way this will last for very long. I'm sure he will drop us off on a street corner where we will be picked up by a bus full of people, animals and furniture... let's see...
Well I can confirm that the bus was empty the whole way! Everytime the bus indicated we held our breath waiting for the driver to tell us to move bus. I honestly cannot believe it! We couldn't sleep for 6 hours as we were just waiting to be randomly kicked off haha how ridiculous. The journey was great and it dropped us off right in the old quarter. I think today is our lucky day as Svenja's friend has a spare room which she has let us stay in too. So we are sat in our cosy room just chilling. We were going to meet Svenja but ended up just going to bed!Leggi altro
To Ba Be National Park
12 maggio 2018, Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
So today we started yet another crazy adventure to our next destination, Ba Be National Park. Most people book organised tours from Hà Nội or drive a motorbike for 2 days to get there, but us, we go the local way! Our journey started at 5am and just when we would have liked to have been on a quicker bus it was like being on a sloth! They stopped for breakfast, coffee, lunch and god knows what else but it took 7 hours to get to our first changeover spot and of course this was on a deserted road. I find it incredible how things just work here. The bus driver dropped us off and said you stay here and a bus will pick you up. We barely waited 5 minutes and sure enough on the other side of the road a bus stopped and waved us to get on! The second bus is full of Vietnamese watching what I can only describe as Vietnamese Got Talent. It's pretty funny.
OK so that was a horrid bus ride. People were being sick all around, the bus was unbelievably bumpy and it was an unexpected 4 hour long ride. When we finally stopped and got off we were on the complete opposite side to where we needed! So then we caught a boat and then finally after another 20 min walk we arrived at the homestay. Shattered is not the word... I think it's time to rest!! I couldn't ask for a more peaceful surrounding to be resting in 😊Leggi altro
Saving the best till last!
11 maggio 2018, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We gelled so well as a group and decided to meet up in the morning for breakfast and then head to the local waterfall for a spot of swimming. The rest of the guys either had more powerful motorbikes or only one person on them, so catching up was difficult with 2 on a 110cc! Swimming in the waterfall was really fun, so we stayed for a couple of hours before heading back to the homestay for a change, lunch and then heading off on the 72km journey back. So in previous days when we have done this it would take 5-6 hours. But with Will playing with the big boys and trying to keep up the whole way we were back in 4! There were a few sketchy moments, a few moments where I nearly flew off, a few moments when he would slam on the break and I'd fly into him, a few moments where I had to get off as the road was just too bad for 2 people on the bike but the most horrifying of all was when we were stuck in traffic and saw why... A huge truck had clearly gone too fast around a corner and drove off the cliff. It was horrific!
In the evening we all went back to our homestay and had dinner together before they all headed to Hà Nội. Next stop for us is Ba Be National Park. We aren't quite sure how to get there but I think it's going to be another fun multiple bus adventure!Leggi altro
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