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Her and Her Travels
Her and Her Travels

Her and Her Travels

Hi,
Myself and my partner Katie are off on our travels around south east asia together!
It's our first time backpacking and we are both excited and nervous! We have been together over three years and can't wait to share this experience together! Read more
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  • Her and Her TravelsIndonesiaHer and Her Travels

    Bali and Beyond

    May 7, 2017 in England ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    We arrived in Bali Seminyak, our last destination. Looking out the window of the taxi from the airport to the hotel, I could immediately tell that indonesia was much more developed then our previous countries vietnam and cambodia. The shops were built up and the roads were paved. Our first day in bali we went to check out seminyak beach. Now...we have been lucky enough to see some beautiful beaches on our travels and therefore our standards had risen. This may be why we wasn't too impressed with seminyak beach... we walked along it ... and watched surfers try to surf the big waves but other then that... we did not indulge. However bali did offer some great little cafes and we definitely ate well! And I even tried their coffee which was very strong and smooth. Most our time was spent at the hotel swimming pool lounging around and of course swimming! Now..we had planned to head to Gili island the second week in bali however news of a potential tsunami in the philipines and indonesia scared us right of that idea! The thought of being on a island surrounded by water with that looming possibility did not sit well with us. And tbh... it did us a favour. As we still went to gili island but just for the day. And boy what a day it was. We basically travelled three hours there on a horrible jumpy speed boat which left ya stomach feeling like it was gonna come out of either end! Just to spend about 40 minutes on the actual island! And to be fair... that was probably all we would want to spend. The island was congested, dirty and smelly and they used poor horses to cart everyone around. And to top it off it started to rain while we was there. So our short time there was spent eating potato wedges and drinking orange juice then standing under shelter from the rain while we await our boat back. And the ride back was even worse then the ride there. But yes...we are thankful we didn't end up staying more time there like originally planned in gili. Overall bali was a good end to the trip.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsCambodiaHer and Her Travels

    Sihanoukville

    April 27, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Now...after keps stuffy bungalow...sihanoukville came as a lovely suprise. Also a bungalow but loads loads nicer! It had air con...it was bigger and just much more comfortable. Also sihanoukvilles beach (otres beach) was just idealic! Beautiful clear blue sea and white sand. Our resort was also pretty boasting a swimming pool, a terrace and a nice restaurant! Which all made a difference to our time and experience. We also did a trip to Koh Rong island which was absolutely stunning! Though due to mother nature visiting me and the scorching heat...it impeded on my ability to enjoy it completely haha. But I still had a really nice day with Katie...we laid on the beach for a bit... had some fizzy drinks and nice bruschetta. We walked the full length of the beach back and forth and by the end of the day we was exhausted! Back in sihanoukville we visited a pub and ordered a beer. This beer was flat and warm and we suspected possibly diluted. With that... we took a few sips and opted to pay and leave. We may have looked strange but we didn't want to risk it! We had some lazy days sitting on the porch and drinking beer and enjoyed the comforts of the resort.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsCambodiaHer and Her Travels

    Kep

    April 27, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    A short drive away was the city of Kep. Up a dirt hill we went to reach our resort. And it was our first bungalow type accommodation we would stay in. It was okay...though we only had a fan and no air con so we was sweating buckets! Anyway...we went to see what we thought was the beautiful kep beach. Well...it was a beach and it was in Kep but it certainly wasn't beautiful. It was small so more like a Cove but also dirty and smelly and just not at all what we had imagined. As soon as we stepped foot on it we took one look and sniff and turned back around. The surrounding area was also full of rubbish and it was just generally quite grubby. The next day we also checked out the crab market which was packed...smelly...smokey and well...we couldn't get out of there quick enough haha. Despite all this, we did find an okay spot to have a few beers in which overlooked the sea and had a nice sunset. And we had a lovely crab amok so it wasn't all bad. But yes...kep wasn't exactly what we expected and we wasn't too sad when we had to leave it.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsCambodiaHer and Her Travels

    Kampot

    April 15, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    After our quite tiring couple days in Mondulkiri, Kampot was a pleasant pause. It was different from any other place we had been to in Cambodia. Hosting a beautiful long lake with many cafes and quiet roads. We strolled along the river and saw the sun reflecting on the water. We ate some tasty food and I indulged in a few milkshakes! But most of all... a half pint of beer was only 50 cent! So we definitely filled our guts! We drank pretty much every evening at the same little cafe and so did the other locals and expats. We saw the same faces at this cafe also drinking and taking advantage of the very very cheap beer.....I mean 30p pretty much to us. Kampot is also known for pepper...they did have a pepper farm which ya could go see but it ain't really our thing haha. But I did try the famous pepper in the form of a pepper burger which was yum...I had it twice! The hotel also had a roof terrace which me and katie sat on most days to top up our tans and listen to music while watching the lake. It was so relaxing! And so much more peaceful and easy to walk around then other towns.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsCambodiaHer and Her Travels
    1

    Mondulkiri (Sen Monorom)

    April 13, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We soon arrived in Mondulkiri from Kratie though not soon enough! Bus was again...not the greatest. Very crammed...they even put little plastic red chairs in between the actual bus chairs so they could squeeze others on. And at one point a lady was leaning all over Katie! We were also going at an incredibly super speed ... an apparent 5 hr journey took 3 hours! But yes we got there and we got there in one piece! Mondulkiri is a little place. Very grey very dusty and very basic. Though our guesthouse was nice considering. And we was thankful we wasn't staying in the jungle like originally planned. We had booked an elephant tour just for the day...which again I am thankful we didn't go for the two day. The day two involved an 18km trek which takes roughly 8 hours to complete. In the jungle! We almost signed up for it...imagine...me and katie.. we would of been done in like 2 hours in...if that! Anyway the one day tour we did was considerably easier...it did involve a lot of walking up and down in wet conditions so it wasn't no walk in the park either. But we saw three elephants in their natural environment and got to feed them bananas. It was a really special experience...they are so huge yet so quiet haha. Ya would think you would hear them coming but ya don't. And yeah it was scary putting the banana to their mouth at first but then after a couple tries it wasn't all that bad. There was also an option to swim with the elephants but after being told to watch ya feet as they could step on them and break them or that the rocks in the water are slippery...we opted not to. However we still watched the elephants splashing about in the water and it was still pretty cool. It was a full on day.. out at like 7....and didn't get back till 5ish. We was exhausted...covered in mud and hot but it was all worth it and really fun! We also lazed about in some hammocks out in the jungle on our lunch break. On our last day we made a friend. This friend was a dog. He followed us from our guesthouse to the cafe we ate breakfast in...he like...sat at our side not even bothering us for food. He then followed us to the bus station and waited with us. We named him Julian. We took a picture for memories haha. I must admit when he first came to us we was weary and scared he may bite us or bother us for food. But we warmed to him and it was slightly sad waving him goodbye.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsCambodiaHer and Her Travels

    Kratie

    April 13, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Our next journey was...interesting. we were told that we were to change buses at some point but it wasn't exactly smooth sailing when it came to it. On our way to Kratie we continued to look out for where and when we had to change bus. Looking for the name of the province and some sort of something resembling a bus station. We had hoped the bus driver and/or bus conductor (if ya can even call him that) would give a bit more info or help but nope...we was completely left to worry and threat most the way. We did eventually get to a bus station and was asking if this is where we had to change and initially they pointed us to the ticket office but then suddenly told us to get back on the bus. Which we did. Left wondering what was going on we finally came to another stop. In the middle of pretty much nothing but a stall and a bunch of men with their tops half way up. Not only this, because we had come to a stop and people had got off including the driver and conductor without telling us nothing...we got off too. And to our suprise found our backpacks on the side of the road covered in dust and just left there. We tried to ask the 'conductor' why they had taken our bags of and tried to get some guidance on what was happening yet he was completely unhelpful and useless. All we could do was stand and wait in the scorching heat with our bags not knowing if they were taking us to Kratie or whether we had missed our change of buses. No clue and by this point no patience left. Eventually he called to us to follow another guy who led us to another bus fairly quickly and seemingly out of the blue. We stumbled along dragging our bags and rushing onto the bus frantically asking people if it was to Kratie. It was...thankfully. What a bloody disorganised mess it was though! Anyway we arrived in Kratie and luckily our hotel was nicer then expected. So we settled in and the next morning set out to see the dolphins. The road there was a bumpy one in the tuk tuk and we even saw a snake just like...wiggling about on the road in front of us! The snake was silver and quite small but still it's a freakin snake on the road! Like wtf! Anywhoot fast forward to the dolphins. We climbed aboard a boat and sailed slowly around while we saw dolphins dip and dive in and out the water. But mainly you could hear them! They sounded like they were exhaling out very loudly ...breathing very heavily almost, so we knew when they were coming. The scenes from the boat were a nice touch too. On our way back from the dolphins we stopped of at the mountain. We were faced with long steep sets of stairs surrounded by statues of buddha. It was long and hot but we got to the top and had a lil peak at the view. It wasn't anything spectacular but it something to check out if ya in kratie as there's not much else to it haha.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsCambodiaHer and Her Travels

    Siem Reap

    April 12, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We arrived in Siem reap after quite a pleasant journey, better then some we've had anyway! Our hotel was very up market fancy. Hosting three restaurants and a massive swimming pool! Anyway we booked through them a tuk tuk to go see all the temples over a two day period. We set out for our first temple day. Picking up the (expensive) tickets which was accompanied with a photo of us. They took it pretty seriously ...checking the ticket at every temple! And there's a lot of temples. Anywhoot...we explored the 'smaller' temples of our first day which was really cool! My favourites of the two days. The structures were grand and rugged and one even had the most beautiful lake I've seen with my own eyes. Like the sort of lake ya see on TV. It was a long day especially having lost our tuk tuk driver at one point...but nothing compared to the next day. The next day we set out early morning to see the main Angkor Wat and the others. These were much bigger and much more tiring! Each time we got back into the tuk tuk we wasn't sure whether we was heading home or to another temple. And believe me when I say...it always seem to be ANOTHER temple haha. There was so many. It got a bit tedious after a while as some of them looked exactly the same or were like 5 mins down the road from the other so didn't exactly feel like a new bit. But it was all still very nice and after two full days of temple trekking we were happy to have the next two days to lounge about by the hotel swimming pool. We sunbathe, swam, ate and drank. It was lovely. Dipping in and out the pool at our pleasure while drying up in the sun to then get wet again splashing straight back into the pool! We also got to see crystal palace play chelsea and even better...we got to see them win! The sports bar we went to was huge and had many a TV and as always they were showing the boring man utd game on the big screen. But it was still a good night and a good game. So yeah Siem Reap had many goodies and was thoroughly enjoyed.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsCambodiaHer and Her Travels

    Phnom Penh

    April 12, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We took the bus from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The bus was fairly okay, there was constant music playing and a random movie on which starred Mike Tyson and a lot of fighting. Every scene was a fight! Crouching tiger hidden dragon style fighting. Anywhoot...we stopped of at the vietnam border and then the cambodian border. And we was on our way. On arriving in Phnom Penh we was immediately bothered by tuk tuk drivers who shouted dollar numbers at us. We didn't have any dollars as yet and went to the bank to get some cash and low and behold the bloody tuk tuk driver followed us. In the end we walked to our hostel as it was not far and saved on a few quid.
    The next day we head out to see the Royal palace. Was pretty temples with pretty greenery surrounding it.
    Our next day in Phnom Penh was quite intense. We went to the Killing fields where we learnt about the atrocities committed under the Khmer regime. Millions of Cambodians killed by other Cambodians. Mothers, babies and men all slaughtered ....we were took round each section and informed of what took place in the killing fields. We also visited the Genocide musuem. This displayed many pictures of the prisoners kept there and it was harrowing! There was pictures of babies who were sat up and posed to look like a mug shot. It was very difficult but interesting as we did not know about any of it.
    It was then time to leave Phnom Penh for Siem Reap. Awaiting our pick up it started chucking it down! The streets were flooded with water it was crazy! But luckily we arrived safely.    Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsVietnamHer and Her Travels

    Ho Chi Minh City

    April 2, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Onto Ho Chi Minh formerly known as Saigon. We only had a couple of days here and was our last stop in Vietnam so decided to take it slow and Easy. We went to the War Remnants musuem which was very sad and a lot to take in. The stories and photos from the war are tragic. We did it in two bits having a break in between which helped for us to gather and process all what we was seeing and reading about. Vietnam...such a unpleasant history but such a beautiful country. We spent the other days resting as we started the malaria tablets in preparation for cambodia.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsVietnamHer and Her Travels

    Nha Trang

    April 2, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    In nha trang we visited Cham towers and a Pagoda as well as snorkel! So it went pretty quick as we were quite busy. Cham towers was nice, pretty scenery though we had some stresses with trying to find the bus back to our hostel so just gave up and got a cab. The pagoda has some vast surroundings. And the Snorkeling (which I unfortunately could not do) was according to Katie, a fun experience. She saw fishes of all sorts and got to swim in clear blue sea. I stayed on the rocky boat taking pictures and watching while trying not to get sea sick! Luckily I didn't however one girl threw up loads! They also jumped off the boats top deck but me and katie decided not to as well...dare devil is not something that is associated with us. At our hostel they did a free hour of beer so we took advantage of that and had a few beers most nights while looking out at the mountains.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsVietnamHer and Her Travels

    Scenery in Hoi An

    April 2, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    From Da Nang we headed a hour drive away to the lovely area of Hoi An. In this quaint area was lakes, boats, lanterns and lights, very beautiful and very peaceful. We arrived on St Patrick's day so set off on a mission to find Guinness. We thought we had struck lucky when there was an Irish pub a few minutes down the road from our hotel. We pulled up a chair in the Irish pub and ordered our guinnesses excitedly. This was however short lived as the waitress came to us and said they had run out of Guinness! We was gutted and also confused as to how an Irish pub could run out of Guinness at 3 pm in the afternoon on St Patrick's day! So we set off again and tracked down another irish pub by the river. Though a bit pricey we finally got a Guinness (no draught unfortunately) and sat and sipped it with great pleasure. Taking in the scenery all the while. Hoi An also housed some lovely dishes. We had many of the local food and it was yummy! We took a stroll down the old town and the market. Lounged about and had a swim at the hotel swimming pool which gave some relief from the scorching heat! Another night we went to a sports bar to watch some footie. We headed back to our hotel around 11ish and to our astonishment was locked out! The hotel was all closed up and no staff were around to let us in. We was panicked and when round the side of the hotel to find another way. We had to climb over the barriers they had up and luckily found an unlocked door to the hotel! What a relief! But what a scare it was!Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsVietnamHer and Her Travels

    Da Nang Beach stay

    March 21, 2017 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    After all the cities and all the go go go, we arrived in Da Nang at the lovely boutique hotel which was a 5 min walk to the beach! And thankfully the weather was beautiful for us all week, staying at a high level of 30 degrees. The beach was pretty, we also went for a few swims even though the sea was a bit choppy! Those waves were a work out haha but fun all in all. When we wasn't swimming we were laying on the beach catching the sun while listening to music on our phones while watching the happenings around us. While we was there we saw a bunch of people pulling on a long rope which went all the way to sea and out onto the sand. It took a while but finally they did the last pull and low and behold...fish! Loads of fish! Alongside this was the many chinese tourist who like we experienced in china, loved taking a picture with a westerner. They spotted a white baby and couldn't get enough of him, they flocked around him with excitement and wonder. The mum handled it all pretty well even when the Chinese lady decided to pick the baby up and attempt to take it with her to the sea, the mum hurried to grab her baby back and just smiled and laughed it off. All seemingly too use to it.
    We also went to watch the fire and water show at the dragon bridge. The bridge is like any other bridge accept it's in the shape of a dragon and every weekend, fire and water come out of its mouth! It's crazy but very cool. Ya wouldn't wanna be driving on the bridge when that happens ey.
    We then took a trip to the lady buddha and marble mountains. The lady buddha was just that, a huge statue of a lady buddha which could be seen from miles away. Up close it was grand and the surrounding area was very scenic. Then there was marble mountains which had so many steps! We walked for ages and climbed to the highest peak on the most narrow of stairs in the most scorching of heats. We was sweaty little bugs when we reached the top.    Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsVietnamHer and Her Travels
    12

    BaBe National Park

    March 7, 2017 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌫 16 °C

    Our second tour departing from hanoi was BaBe national park. The drive there was....slightly terrifying. The speed the driver was going at felt like my insides would pop out of my mouth at any point. The roads are not smooth either so it was bumpy journey which would send ya off ya seat into the air ever so slightly. Luckily there was seat belts! Anyway we arrived at this...well...what looked like a nature reserve. Interestingly and unexpectedly people lived here! It was way out in the sticks and it didn't look like they had very much other then crops, animals ranging from chickens to dogs to goats and a lake. The views were nice from the homestay we slept at. We did the boat trip which took us into a cave. It was a huge cave and was pretty cool. In one bit you could hear the squeeking of bats as they rest above our heads. It was quite scary and I was a bit jumpy at the prospect of them flying down in a pact and swarming all of over. Though would be cool if a bite from a bat could turn me into a vampire (my long life dream! Lol).Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsVietnamHer and Her Travels

    Hanoi

    March 5, 2017 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    It was goodbye to China and hello Vietnam. First stop...Hanoi. Our hostel is located right in the old quarter so right in the middle of all the action! Our first stroll around we was pretty much dodging the shit load of bikes that zoom past. And the problem is that the bikes are parked on the pavement so there's pretty much no choice but to walk on the roads where the bikes are zipping past. It took us ages just to pop down the road to the shop though there is no 'popping' anywhere in the old quarter. More like slowly maneuvering around parked and moving metal (mopeds). The first impression we got was chaotic and very different to china. Had a very different feel and look and much more Westerners here. The food in Hanoi is good ...unlike china where we struggled slightly with the food. We have ate vietnamese each day...trying the rice noodle, sandwiches and smoothies. Oh and not forgetting the delicious banana pancake we get served for breakfast every morning. We have also done some sightseeing
    ..visiting Hoan kiem lake and the Prison. The prison was very sad but also interesting to hear about some of the history of vietnam.

    Within our Hanoi trip we booked two tours. One to halong bay on a cruise and then to BaBe national park. The cruise was truly amazing! Great food, good facilities and the kayaking was so much fun! Proper was a highlight of our travelling - kayaking and then the lil beach trip in the middle where we got to swim was nice. Overall great experience. The range of food they served us was expansive....had beef chicken and a lot of fish. The prawns were the freshest prawns I've tasted.    Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsChinaHer and Her Travels

    Big City, Lovely beach

    February 27, 2017 in Hong Kong ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    We left mainland china for hong kong not knowing what to expect. Would it be similar or different? Well we found it to be pretty different from mainland china...sharing similarities with London actually. Big city, loads of shopping districts like Oxford Street. Much more 'Western' food and much more of a 'western' feel as seemingly has an American influence. We started by visiting the park. It had lovely scenery with lakes and colourful flowers. Was like a painting! Though we got told no selfie sticks when we tried to snap a cute picture of ourselves with a even cuter background. Then that evening we tried authentic chinese at a somewhat questionable setting. It was in what looked like a car park, you wouldnt know it if ya didnt research it first. But the food was good and it was very very busy! We traveled to see the big buddha which was quite the journey weaving in and out and up and down on the bus to get there. But it was good...grand...though very misty! The wandering cows and dogs were cute...so many cows just proper bopping around like nobody's bussiness! And then there was the peak which started of stressful due to lack of money, need for a toilet, long queues and purchasing of wrong tickets. But once we were up on the skyline it was absolutely stunning! The view was nothing like I had seen before. High rise buildings, clusters of greenery and vast blue sea and sky which looked like fresh slates you could walk on. In the evening we also managed to catch the Tottenham v stoke match at an Irish pub though only had the one pint as the price was jaw dropping! Bloody 7 or there's about quid for a carlbergs and about 9 squids for a guiness! And I thought London was bad. Anywhoot we spent our last day on the beach in Hong Kong which was lovely. The weather was the best we had since being here which was good as we had sent our coats and fleece back by this point. The sand was clean clear and soft and the sea was blue and crisp. We got a couple beers in and a tuna sandwich and just chilled. Tommorow we say goodbye to china and hello to Vietnam.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsChinaHer and Her Travels

    All of the Lights

    February 23, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    Shanghai was just as we expected. Big city, tall buildings and lots of lights! We visited the bund in both the morning and night. It was definitely much prettier in the night. We took a stroll through yu gardens which had beautiful lakes, big fish and was generally very relaxing. And though we are not massively into musuems we thought we would check out shanghai museum as it was free! It was a big musuem with many floors and many artifacts. Overall it was a good experience and also ate some nice food...we tried the dumplings which were flavoursome.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsChinaHer and Her Travels

    PANDAS!

    February 14, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    We finally arrived at chengdu...after a long 16 hour sleeper train! But Katie was gleaming with excitement for the pandas so it was all worth it. We arrived at the panda base when it opened 7.30am...at first there were no pandas in sight. But not long in and they started waking up and appearing. Small ones...big ones....lone ones...grouped ones...and red pandas...they were all so cute. And to see a panda for real life and not just on TV was a lovely experience. They were so slow in their movement but also very playful (the younger ones anyway). They climbed on each other, tugged at each others fur with their teeth and did what looked like rollie pollies. And watching them eat the bamboo was even cuter, chewing slowly while clawing down more bamboo before even finishing the one they had. It was overall a sweet experience besides having no facilities to eat! We was proper hungry and only managed to get our hands on a mango smoothie. However the smoothie was not what we thought...it was more like a mango sorbet in a bowl and it was sooooo cold and may have been responsible for the cold I caught not long after. Also in chengdu we went to people's park which was an interesting experience. We saw chinese people dancing singing exercising and playing sport and it was all very entertaining to watch.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsChinaHer and Her Travels

    Chill time

    February 13, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    After a busy few days in beijing and harbin, we were thankful for the less packed schedule we had planned in xian. We took it more slow, going to see the terracotta warriors. We leisurely strolled around it taking in the vast size of the pits. We also went to see the big wild goose pagoda which showcased a musical water fountain show. The show was good, the water flickered and danced along with the music while the pagoda stood long and tall above it all. We got to see it all as it got darker so the pagoda lit up which made it look even more cool. Apart from these two activities we chilled mainly in the hostel bar and restrurant which was such a lovely needed break. The food was nice, the beer was good and cheap!Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsChinaHer and Her Travels

    Ice and Snow world

    February 13, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Harbin was a hard city to navigate, the roads were manic, the beeping was constant and we had some unpleasant experiences in our short time there. However it was all worth it for the ice and snow world which was colourful, majestic, creative and just overall nothing like we had ever seen. The whole place lit up and was made of ice. Ice sculptures stood tall with such detail. Even walking in the snow was nice as we don't get much snow in london.
    Plus on top...we got a free coach to and from the snow world from our hotel....though it was one hell of a... odd ride. There was us and a bunch of other people on the coach, the coach stopped at about two other hotels to pick up various people and all along we had a tour guide. Now on our way back from the snow world, the coach stopped outside a shop and everyone got off accept us. We didn't really know what was going on. Anyway they returned and the coach started driving off...to our suprise the tour guide and a couple other people were still in the shop, he had left without them! One guy who's friend was left started shouting in Chinese at the driver who then pulled off and let the friend off. Can you belive, he didn't go back for them he just left them! And then he stopped again and everyone got off who was left accept us again. He then started to drive off again with just me and katie in the coach, we were confused as we recognised a few people from the hotel we was staying at so thought they would get off with us. At this point I started to panic and sort of froze up not knowing what to do. Luckily he let us off on a road by our hotel. It was nuts! To leave people who were promised a ride to and from their hotel and even worse...to leave the tour guide behind! We was just happy we got back to our hotel as it would of been a nightmare if we got dropped off in an unknown place!    Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsChinaHer and Her Travels

    Cold in Harbin

    February 7, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ -6 °C

    We travelled to Harbin on our first sleeper train, we opted for the soft sleeper. It was surprisingly quite a pleasant experience despite the long-ness of it with no wifi! We had two others in the compartment with us who were relaxed and no issues at all. When we arrived in harbin we were hit by the bitter cold. Wandering around looking for a taxi we finally jumped in one only to be ripped off once dropped off at our hotel...but we was too tired and cold to dispute the large sum he requested for such a short journey.
    That evening we went out for dinner...now this place was self proclaimed top notch dumpling restaurant. We went for the beef dumpling only to be told they have no beef...then we settled for the 'three fresh' which apparently came with pork and shrimp dumplings only to be told again...that they had run out. We then...hoping...third time lucky asked about the fried dumplings on offer and they said they are not cooking fried dumplings (bare in mind we were only asking for what was on their menu). After three attempts of trying to order dumplings in a dumpling restaurant..out of frustration we just asked for the french fries. Now sitting there with our beers awaiting our chips ..feeling awkward...they served us...Mccain oven chips! Yep folks...Mccain chips on a plate with mayo and ketchup...greasy and undercooked. We ate the chips quick and drank the beer even faster...then left. We were cold and hungry and tired from our long 11 hour journey...we struggled to order in the first place because the language barrier...in the end we went McDonald's and got a big Mac.    Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsChinaHer and Her Travels

    Great Wall of China

    February 4, 2017 in China ⋅ 🌫 7 °C

    Today we went to the great wall of china. It was also our first day using the subway system! Luckily it was fairly straight forward and we managed to get there. The great wall was just what it says on the tin...GREAT! The views from it were stunning...a picture did not do it justice. And though our thighs ached and our feet throbbed from the walk/climb up the great wall, it was worth it. That's to say we did not make it to the top or end (if there is an end) but we did each side north and south and reached as far as our bodies would take us. It was a good day. Plus we experienced the Chinese toilets for the first time which took some leg strength to keep ourselves steady but we came, we squatted, we conquered.Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsChinaHer and Her Travels

    Exploring

    February 3, 2017 in China ⋅ ☀️ 3 °C

    Our first full day in Beijing! We had slept and (just about) recovered from the jetlag though our body clock was still adjusting.
    We head out to the many attractions beijing offers...tianmen square, forbidden city and the park which had lakes frozen over (that's how cold it is!).
    The buildings were vast and the designs were colourful and vibrant even amongst all the smog! We walked around taking it all in then to be approached by various people asking to have a picture with us; we obliged, smiled for the camera and did the peace sign which they seemed to like.    Read more

  • Her and Her TravelsChinaHer and Her Travels

    Arrival

    February 2, 2017 in China ⋅ 🌙 -6 °C

    We have arrived in Beijing! After slipping and smacking my knee while going to board the plane, then finally getting on the plane to find my TV was the only one on the plane that didn't work (so 7ish hours of watching other people watch films). Then we had the momentary panic at Beijing airport because no ATM's were accepting our cards, but soon figured it out and was on our jolly way to find a taxi. On our search we had to avoid the 'dodgey' guy who flashed us a laminated card with (what we soon figured out) was double the price for a taxi from him then the airport service. He tried shouting, animated gestures and following us to persuade us to come with him in a more hidden part of the airport to get a 'taxi' with him. After some repetitive 'nos' and assertive walking, we found the airport taxi service which took us to our hostel quickly and considerably cheaply.

    We explored the area around our hostel a bit, finding the nearest supermarket and pharmacy. We then went for a meal, which was ...a bit overwhelming. We was a bit flustered trying to order a vegetarian dish among all the meat options. Then came the chopsticks...which...well...wasn't our finest hour. We both bumbled and fiddled with the sticks, our noodles slipping and sliding away from our mouths. In the end leaving half our meal and calling it a night.    Read more

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