Taiwan – Round II

May 18, 2018May 22, 2018 | joefrombow

For the final stop on this Asian adventure I decided to go back to Taiwan. Its the first time I’ve gone back somewhere I’ve already been. When I was here before there was just something about it that made me wanna come back; the feel and pace of Taiwan, the warmth of the people, the food (and bubble tea). I loved all these things when I visited before and didn’t even get round seeing what the capital, Taipei and North had to offer.

Once in Taipei, the first thing I did was go grab a bubble tea. Love bubble tea! Big fan of plum green tea flavour. Bubble tea in hand, I decided to head up Elephant Mountain to catch a view of the city for sunset. After watching the sunset, it was time to head to one of the night markets to eat and snack and eat again.

The next day, I headed out to Shifen and Jiufen. In Shifen there is a decent waterfall to see, but the reason most people come here is to release a lantern off into the sky, whilst standing on the train tracks. I decided against doing this. For one it just felt touristy, but the main reason was environmental. From what I could tell the lanterns were landing in the surrounding forest and river. I saw a few old ones laying in the river and heading into the forest, but didn’t see anyone clearing them up. That’s not to say they don’t get cleaned away, but it didn’t look like they did. One thing that has been a downside on this trip is seeing the amount of pollution and plastic that gets everywhere – beaches, forests, mountains.

Waterfall seen, and sky lantern not released, it was onto Jiufen. As a big Studio Ghibli fan visiting here was always gonna be on the cards. Although it was wet and windy it was still cool, especially at night when the lanterns came on. Spending the night also meant I could spend some time walking around, enjoying it and grabbing photos without loads of other tourists in the way! The next morning, thankfully the weather cleared which meant I was able to head up Keelung Mountain to catch a view of Jiufen and the surrounding area. Before heading back to Taipei, I also went to see the Golden Waterfall and YinYang sea.

Once back in Taipei, my time was spent wandering through the different areas, eating plenty of good food, having a few drinks, sitting and people watching, visiting a couple of museums and of course going to the hot springs. The hot springs in Beitou are only 40TWD – £1, deffo worth it and I went more than once. Some time was also spent thinking about what happens once I get home, but nothing really came of this…..

I also popped down to catch up with my friend Rachel, who I caught up when I was in Taiwan before. Said it before, seeing friends has been a major highlight of this trip.

Before leaving and heading home, I also visited the national park, Yangmingshan which is just outside Taipei. Unfortunately, the views weren’t good due to cloudy weather. But it was a good tough walk, which must have burnt off loads of the food I’d been eating.

At the end of Taipei, I was sad to be leaving but excited to be going home. The excitement of putting on fresh clothes, eating a Sunday roast and seeing friends n family is real. But Taiwan, I will definitely be back again at some point. For a tiny island you pack a big punch.

Next stop HOME

Malaysia

May 9, 2018 | joefrombow

Malaysia started how India finished, seeing an old uni mate. This time it was Chris who was my next door neighbour during my first term at Essex. As we were unable to meet up in Thailand, he travelled down to George Town, Penang, to catch up for a few days. It was good to reminiscence and have a few drinks after 9 years! Aside from catching up, drinking, and the subsequent hangover I did the usual touristy stuff in George Town; wander round and see the street art, eat good food and go to Penang Hill to enjoy the (cloudy) view.

From George Town, I headed down to the Cameroon Highlands. It was nice to be somewhere green and fresh, with hills and trails that I could stretch my legs on. I definitely missed that being in India. Both full days I spent here I went out on some trails, up some hills, down some hills and through some tea plantations. Maps.Me also came into it’s own here, people have clearly marked the trails on the map. Was definitely useful as some of them aren’t clearly signposted or look like trails.

After a couple of days walking around, I continued further South onto Melaka. There aint too much to do here; there’s some good food, a few museums and some street art along the river. But with not much to do, it’s mostly a chill out spot I guess, and the street art ain’t as good as George Town. With not much happening, I took the opportunity to go see Marvels: Infinity War. Dw, no spoilers but go see it.

Also in Melaka, I started to feel travel tired again. I’m starting to feel lazy and tired, as well as missing home. This carried on when I was in Kuala Lumpur, but still went and did a few different things. As well as visiting the KLCC Park to get a view of the Petronas Towers, I also visited the Eco Park, visited the Islamic Art Museum and had a cheeky nandos. Feeling abit home sick and travel tired, it was nice to see and have nandos. You even get table service so you aint gotta get up and refill your drink. Decent! Finally in KL, I managed to catch up with another old friend. This time, Lily an old mate from doing Jitsu together at Surrey. Again, as always, it was really good to catch up and see where life has taken us. Being able to catch up with so many old friends on this trip has easily been the highlight.

Next stop Taiwan (via Singapore)

India – Part II – Gujarat, Mumbai, Hyderabad

April 27, 2018 | joefrombow

So I jumped another night bus down from Udaipur to Bhuj in Gujarat. You’ve guessed the pattern by now, it was a pretty sleepless journey, getting shaken round like a polariod picture. But I’m used to that now and can deal with it, what I couldn’t deal with was the temperature once I got to Bhuj. 45, FORTY-FUCKING-FIVE degrees. Mate, nobody needs to be that hot, my English body can’t handle that! Needless to say, most of that day was spent hiding indoors.

Fortunately, the next couple of days weren’t as hot, unfortunately it was only by a couple of degrees…but you can only hide inside for so long. So I spent the next day doing a trip down the seaside town of Mandivi and had one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. A local thali dish, where the food just kept being replenished. Then the day after, I managed to get out to the Salt Desert in Kutch, which was the reason for me coming and putting up with silly temperatures in the first place. It was worth it. If you ever get the chance to go see a salt desert, then go. Amazing.

After seeing the salt desert, it was time to move. So I attempted to get a day bus down to Dwarka, save myself the sleepless night bus, but India had other ideas. Whilst on the bus, country wide protests from the Dalit social caste/class started. In places these got violent, thankfully I wasnt near the violence, but it meant all buses got stopped. In true Indian style, nobody really knew what was going on and when/if the buses would start again. So, didn’t see any point in hanging around, I ended up going to the nearest train station, heading back to Bhuj and booking myself onto a night bus.

Sleepless journey completed and now successfully in Dwarka, it wasn’t as hot, but was more humid…pick your poison I guess. The holy town of Dwarka is a nice enough town, with some cool temples, but to be honest, the importance of it was kinda lost on me. Not having a great knowledge of Hinduism meant I missed some of the importance of Dwarka.

After Dwarka, it was time to head over to Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad is a nice enough city with a few things to see and do; Gandhi Ashram, the old city, Shiraz Rosa. But the main reason I came here, and to India, was to catch an old mate from college. After months away from home, it was so good to see a friendly and familiar face. No offence to everyone I’ve met in hostels etc, but we all get bored of those same travel conversations we have everytime we get to a new place. It was nice to have a break from that, have a proper catch up and just chill out abit. Staying at his place meant a king size bed, air-con, sky TV, good wifi and a swimming pool. DECENT! Absolute luxury! Cheers Jordz!

After enjoying that week of luxury, I continued South to Mumbai. I’d heard mixed things about Mumbai, but I kinda liked it. Apart from the humidity, it wasn’t too bad. I managed to avoid the Mumbai local during rush hour, go and google it to see how crazy it is, the TukTuks/Autos all use their meters and there’s enough to do to keep you entertained for a few days. Alongside the usual tourist stuff; Colaba, Dhavi ‘slum’, I also managed to get to a cricket game. I’ve been to cricket in the UK, it’s not the same! Maybe there are some more similarities in test cricket, but the IPL is loud, colourful, fast. Thankfully, it was a pretty good game and got to see the poster boy if Indian cricket, Virat Kolhi bat.

The final stop in India was Hyderabad. Again, it was really hot here, but feel that I’d kinda got used to that by now. There’s a few nice things to see in the city; old city area, Chowmahalla palace, Golconda Fort, but again here the highlight was meeting up with an old friend from uni. He took me to some good food joints, and again it was good to catch up and reminiscence about uni. Kishor, it was good to see you.

Next stop Malaysia.

India – Part I – Rajasthan (and Agra)

April 3, 2018April 3, 2018 | joefrombow

India wasn’t even on the agenda or radar until a few weeks ago, when an old mate messaged me saying they are living and working in India for abit, and that I should come visit. So a few days later I’d applied for and got the visa. A few weeks later at 1am or some stupid time, I was landing in Jaipur, beginning a much busier period than the one I’d just come from in Thailand.

Fortunately, I was met by a friend of a friend, who also happens to be a tuk-tuk driver. Result! Over the next few days he wizzed me around town to the forts, viewpoints and foodpoints. He also took me to his village, where his Mum still lives. Both nights in Jaipur he took me to his house where him and his wife cooked dinner, and it’s hard to beat home cooked food!

After a few days in Jaipur, I jumped on the train and headed out to Agra. Can’t come to this part of India and not go see the Taj Mahal right?! And, the trains, they ain’t as mad or hectic as I’d feared. The booking system can be a headache, but once you’re past that, it’s kinda easy, as long as you know when it’s your stop…

The Taj itself is beautiful, it’s easy to see why it is a World Heritage sight and such a popular tourist destination. Aside from the Taj, there is a pretty good fort at Agra, but also this really bad smell that gets up your nose…and you don’t really wanna hand around for more than a day or two.

From Agra, I headed to Pushkar. Pushkar is a really holy city, with lots of temples and ghats. Unfortunately, with that comes alot of people trying to get a paid blessing out of you, something usually in the region of 2000 Rupees (£20ish) for a blessing with the holy waters. Only they forget to mention the ‘donation’ cost until the end. Just refuse to pay, or pay a minimal amount and let them take back their holy blessings. Aside from the temples and lake, Pushkar has nice sunrise and sunset viewpoints, but after 2 days I was more than ready to move onto Bikaner.

Heading to Bikaner meant a night/sleeper bus. A sleeper bus that I didn’t sleep on. No change there! The Indian night buses give you more room than the Vietnamese ones, but the roads are so bumpy that it’s hard enough to stay laying down, let alone sleep. You get shaken around so much, you might as well be a James Bond martini. But once in Bikaner, and having avoided the numerous street dogs, the host of my guesthouse was really cool. He let me check in early so I could get some sleep, then drove me out to the Karni Mata temple, aka the rat temple. This temple is full of rats, that are free to run around. Also, if you spot a white rat it means good luck. Incase you’re wondering, I didn’t spot one. As it was the first day of Hindi New Year, it was rammed! The Hindi New Year celebrations then carried on that night, which were pretty cool to see and be around, especially as there wasn’t many other tourists around. Bikaner old town and all the havelis are nice to walk around and see, and Bikaner Fort is okay.

From Bikaner, it was a night train to Jaisalmer. Somehow on this journey I got upgraded, from normal sleeper class to 2AC class. 2AC is kinda nice, they have aircon and give you a pillow and sheet. Decent! Once in Jaisalmer, I headed out on a desert safari. This involved heading out to the desert in a jeep, before hoping on some camels for the day. It was really nice, but camels ain’t that comfy and they smell! We also spent the night out under the stars, which gave us a pretty sweet view. It also rained for a few minutes which I wasn’t expecting in the desert! Once back after touring the desert, I wandered around the fort, it seems that everywhere in Rajasthan has a fort, and got some nice views of the city below. I think I got a photo from every place I visited, that is from up high looking out on the sprawling city below. The Jain Temples are also worth visiting here as well, as not every place has them.

After Jaisalmer, it was Jodhpur. Here I spent some time just wandering around and ended up in a non-touristy part of town. This resulted in being mobbed by kids all wanting chocolate. No, not happening. After escaping the hordes of kids, I headed upto a sunset point, overlooking the city and got some photos to go with my collection of sprawling city photos! The next day, you guessed it, time to check out the fort. Jodphur fort is pretty good and the audio guide is actually informative!

The final stop in Rajasthan was Udaipur. I ended up spending 4 nights here, watching the sunset from a different place each night. I also spent some time stretching my legs around the numerous lakes, did a cooking class and an art class. I am many things to many people, but I’m not the next Rick Stein, or Van Gough. Whilst in Udaipur it was also my birthday. Think it was the soberest, calmest, most chilled birthday I’ve had. Although, I did treat myself to a proper, proper dinner and a Baskin and Robbins ice cream sunday.

Thailand

March 13, 2018March 13, 2018 | joefrombow

Thailand. Lots of good food in Thailand. Khow Soi, Pad Thai, Pad-See-Ew. So yea, stuffed my face when I got to Chaing Rai, specially at the Saturday Night Market, and stayed clear of rice for a couple of days…

Apart from eating plenty of good food, I didn’t get up to much in Chaing Rai. Getting there was easy, didn’t have to deal with any issues or faf or corruption that I did at the Cambodia/Laos border. Once there, first thing I did was get my hair cut. It was a mess, hadn’t been trimmed in 3/4 months and had just sort of mushroomed out. Was also making me look super skinny. I’m not the biggest anyway, especially as I haven’t been drinking much lately, but was making me look too skinny.

Hair sorted, I felt like it was time to slow down. So I just did one thing a day whilst in Chaing Rai; The White Temple one day, The Black House the next. Even if you’ve had your fill of temples, these two are different and defiantly worth a visit.

From Chaing Rai, I headed to Chaing Mai, and continued the go slow theme and attitude. Spent a few days here exploring the old town centre, Chinatown and Doi Suthep. At Doi Suthep, I realised I’d reached peak temple. The temple is a nice temple, but after travelling to it I didn’t really care for it tbh. After a while you become templed out, just like how I reached peak waterfall in Laos.

After Chaing Mai, I went to the buckpacker hub of Pai. I’d originally planned to spend a few days in Pai, then head onto Mae Hoe Son to do some trekking, but this didn’t happen. I ended up spending 5 days in Pai, not doing much. Went and visited Pai Canyon, saw some white Buddhas, ate really well at the night market and went out one night. But in all honesty I didn’t do much. I looped back to Chaing Mai for one more night and went to the cinema. Finally saw Black Panther, great film, and if you ever go cinema in Thailand, remember to stand for the Royal Anthem…

While not doing much at first was nice, by the end I was getting itchy feet. Anyone who knows me, knows that I don’t usually do well at doing nothing. It’s cool at first, and it allowed me to plan the rest of this trip, but then I get bored or my mind wanders or my anxiety pops up and says ‘Hey, you know you’re not doing anything, that means you can worry about….’ This definitely started to happen.

Soooo, I headed to Bangkok with plans to have a busy 48 hours there. But, rocking up as a storm was hitting put pause to those plans. Getting soaked on the way to the hostel, with ankle deep water means you can’t go and do alot. Fortunately, it didn’t last. After the rain stopped and water drained away, I made sure I went and stretched my legs; Chinatown, Lumphini Park, night market. The next day I wandered round and explored some more, before heading off to the airport.

Next stop India

Laos

February 25, 2018February 25, 2018 | joefrombow

Cambodia, I take back what I said about your food, it’s better than what Laos has to offer..I think I’ve hit peak rice; steamed rice, sticky rice, fried rice… At least Cambodia had fish amok, khmer curry or loklak to choose from.

Anyway, first stop in Laos was Don Det. A place which is pretty much pure backpackers and not much else. The real Laos, it is not. Most of the island is bungalows, hammocks and restaurants being filled up by backpackers taking a break.

But you can only get there after crossing the notoriously corrupt Cambodia/Laos border. Things like paying extra dollars for ‘overtime’, a stamp exit fee, a processing fee etc. You can pay a guy to handle this for you, for a fee of course. Or go it alone, if you go it alone and refuse to pay you may be waiting a long time. You also hear instances of people having their passports thrown back at them, with no stamp in it, when they refuse to pay. And if you do go solo, don’t expect the bus that bought you to the border to be waiting for you on the other side.

Once through the border, it was nice to spend a few days not doing alot and resting, especially after the busy end to Cambodia. And the fruit samosas that you can get in Don Det were probably the best thing I ate in Laos. But apart from going to see some waterfalls on one of the other islands, there really isn’t much to do. Seeing fishmen go out into rapids to chuck nets and set traps was cool to see, if abit heart in mouth…

So after a few days of laying in hammocks, was time to start heading North with Sami the Finn, a travel buddy I’d orginally met in Mui Ne Vietnam, and happened to cross paths with again here. After travelling through Cambodia solo, just meeting people on tours and in hostels, it was nice to have someone to travel up through Laos with.

We headed to Pakse, one to break up the journey North as things are spread out with long bus journeys in Southern Laos, and also because we were thinking if heading out to the Plateau. Once arriving in Pakse and looking at what was on offer, we decided not to head to the Plateau and just continue North to Tha Khaek the day after. This was pretty much a pure travel day, setting off early and getting in late and then sorting the next days travels. The next day was local buses all the way round to Kong Lor. Local buses in Laos are basically big tuktuks with two benches in the back for people to sit on. It was bumpy going, and got delayed due to an overturned lorry on winding roads, but got to experience some of the real Laos, and getting to Kong Lor was worth it.

Kong Lo cave is a flooded cave that you go through on a boat with only headtorches lighting the way. Pretty cool tbh and a good reward for some long travel days. And the surrounding geography is alot like Nhim Bhim in Vietnam.

After Kong Lor, it was another early start to get to Vientiane the capital of Laos. A small capital, but the capital. It’s cool for a couple of days; watch the sunset over the river, see some wats, look at the night market, but after that it’s abit mehhhh.

So onto Vang Vieng, infamous for tubing and things getting out of hand. But the Laos government cracked down on things so it’s alot calmer and safer than what it used to be. Most people who come here, go tubing. Not us, decided to go rock climbing. Turned out to be a great decision, body ached halfway through the day, but loved my first experience of outdoor climbing and need to do more climbing, indoor and outdoor.

Our next stop was Phonsavan, home to the Plain of Jars. Kong, the owner of KongKeo Guesthouse gave a really good tour taking us to three sites. Nobody really knows why they exist but still intresting to visit. As well as being home to the Plain of Jars, Phonsavan is also home to tonnes of bombs left over from the Secret War. Guesthouses, restaurants, locals homes are decorated with the shells and casings of exploded bombs. Out guesthouse used the casing of a big bomb as a fire pit.

I knew nothing of the Secret War before getting here, but have been shocked and interested in it since getting here and finding out about it. The MAG (Mines Advisory Group) have a museum in Phonsavan which is really worth visiting, as is the COPE centre in Vientiane. The fact that they are still finding unexploded bombs, mostly cluster bombs, in Laos today speaks volumes about what happened here.

We then headed onto Luang Prabang, we did well to get some cheap accommodation here as our visit coincided with Chinese New Year so the place was packed and dorm beds were going at $30 p/night!! But we spent a few days here, exploring and wandering, visiting another waterfall, although its a good one I am waterfalled out now, and then going to the bowling alley….the only place for a night out in Luang Prabang…

I also spent a morning at Big Brother Mouse, an organisation that helps provide books for local kids to read, but also a space for locals to come practice English with tourists. In return tourists can get to ask questions about Laos and Laos life and culture.

Here me and Sami parted ways, he headed back to Vietnam and I carried on North, Nong Khiaw. If you’ve got a sweet tooth then Deliahs is the place to head to, some seriously good deserts. The banoffee pie might actually be the best thing I ate in Laos, not the fruit samosas. There is plenty of hiking and stuff to do here as well. I just decided to do one viewpoint for sunset then chill the rest of the time. But that was made up for in my final Laos stop, Luang Namtha.

Here I did a 3 day, 2 night trek into the jungle, with a homestay the first night then staying in the jungle the second. Alot of trekking uphill then downhill. Not a picturesque or instagramable hike, but still really good. The path was single file all the way, sometimes narrower than that. Also had plenty of scrambling over, under, through and round bamboo that makes up lots of the forest.

Next stop Thailand (and better food!)

Indicating the path has been mineswept for left over UXOs

Cambodia

February 10, 2018February 10, 2018 | joefrombow

So Cambodian food isn’t anything special, I actually ended up getting food poisoning a few days into Cambodia. Not sure what caused it, but fortunately it was only a 24 hour thing and not anything worse. Sorry to anyone who was sharing a dorm with me over those 24 hours, it wasn’t nice. But apart from that, Cambodia has been amazing.

My first stop off, Phnom Penh was where I got food poisioning, but more importantly, allowed me to visit the S-21 prison and Killing Fields. Both of these were eye opening and shocking. I knew of what happened under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, but had no real idea of the scale and time frame.

Visiting the Killing Cave in Battambang was another eye opening and sobering moment, again highlighting what happened here in the past. But there is so much more to Cambodia than just it’s past. Sitting outside the bat cave at sunset and watching ~~hundreds~~, thousands of bats leave their roost for the night was one of the cooler things I’d done in a while. The circus, Phare Ponleu Selpak, was also fun and worthwhile. It wasn’t perfect, but who cares and it helps improve the lives of local children and their families.

Then onto Siem Reap, only came here for some more history, the temples at Ankor Watt. I had no real interest in partying, getting a happy pizza or having one of the numerous massages on offer. Sorting out going is easy enough, there seems to be more Tuk Tuk drivers than tourists in Siem Reap. The Ankor Watt site is really touristy, especially around the lake, but you can kinda see why. It’s an amazing site and complex, and I took a shitload of photos that I’ll have to sift through at a later date. Regardless of how touristy it is and feels, it’s a must see for a reason.

After fighting other tourists to get around Ankor Watt and get some good shots for instagram, it was time to chill abit, so that’s exactly what I did in Kampang Cham. The most I did hear was cross the bamboo bridge to go to the bank. But the rest was needed as the rest of my time in Cambodia was packed full.

The rest of my time in Cambodia began with a fun, long bus journey to Banlung, Ratanakiri. Taking something like 11 hours when it should have been more like 7, but hey, it was fun and got to be around locals rather than on a tourist shuttle. Bus filled with eggs, a local guy carrying a live duck and chicken in a plastic carrier bag, nobody else speaking English so alot of charades and miming. Much better than a boring tourist bus! Once in Banlung, spent one day riding on the back of a motorbike visiting waterfalls and lakes, that was driven by some Italian guy who didn’t really know what a horn is or what brakes are. As a result there were a couple of hairy moments, on some questionable roads (dirty/dust tracks), dw Mum no accidents happened…just… After not crashing, it was time to get trekking, 2 nights 3 days into rural Cambodia, with a local homestay. A beautiful part of the world, although if logging carries on at the rate at which it is currently occuring, it’s a part of the world which could soon be lost. But the trekking was good, as was the local homestay. The local rice wine, maybe not so much.

After here it was a much shorter bus ride south to Sen Monorom, Mondulkiri. Again, time for some more hiking. This time an 18km hike, followed by a night in the jungle, then a day with elephants at an elephant sanctuary. The hike was good, tough in places but good. The elephant sanctuary, amazing. Was able to get close up to the elephants, both feeding and washing them, able to watch them from a distance just be elephants and it was fully ethical. No elephant riding, and if they wanted to leave they left. No stopping them. Mr Tree who runs the project, a really passionate guy. Hope he is able to complete his dream and successfully bread elephants.

Then the final Cambodian stop, Karatie. It was hot, seriously hot, especially after the coolness of the jungle. But kayaking on the Mekong to see Irrawaddy dolphins was again amazing and really cool. The kayaking was hard work, the old Irish guy I was sharing with, we didn’t have much of a rhythm. Did alot more zigzagging rather than going in a straight line. Once the currents got faster we got quite close to a couple of trees and some foliage, but again dw Mum, no accidents…just…. But it was worth it. Being in the kayaks meant we was able to get quite close to some of the dolphins. There aren’t many left, 70ish in Cambodia, so was really cool to see them.

But after all the hiking and kayaking, my body could do with a rest and probably a massage.

Next stop Laos.

Lots of ruins. And Buddhas. Lots of Buddhas

Vietnam – Part II

January 14, 2018January 14, 2018 | joefrombow

So after a long arse 18 hour sleeper (2 hour stop over in Nha Trang), with little actual sleep, I arrived in Mui Ne. As usual, with the tourist sleepers in Vietnam, the buses drop you off in some random place. But getting off the bus, the heat hit me as soon as I stepped onto the street. Yes, SUN. HEAT. Finally! Although it didn’t take long for me to start thinking it was too hot…

In Mui Ne, I really didn’t do a lot. After New Years and the long journey down, I wasn’t feeling to do alot. So I pretty much spent 2 days sleeping, chilling and those bits of life admin that need doing; doing a budget check, laundry, planning where else to go. Randomly there is a nice, little Irish pub that played Northern Soul to hang out in during the evenings. Also called home for the first time in a while, figured it needed doing as it hadn’t happened over Christmas or New Years.

After spending a couple days doing fuck all, I moved onto Dalat and the Dalat Family hostel. Anyone who has stayed here won’t be forgetting it. Muma who starts cheering whenever anyone new arrives, and starts loading them up with food in a way that only nans can. The ‘rave cave’ – a soundproof room/bar where you can party before going into town and continue once you’re back from town. The 5pm dinners that are finished off with some quality banana pancakes! Definitely one of the better, warmer hostels I’ve stayed at in a while. The maze bar in Dalat is also worth a visit. The name does it justice, I lost people pretty much as soon as I walked in and spent 20 minutes trying to find them again…..

Then onto the final calling post in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) aka Siagon. It’s warm, sticky and busy but I still like it. In the evenings people gather in the parks and play badminton, jog and walk around or kick a ball around. There is also another game they play with something similar to a shuttlecock but heavier. You kick it to each other, without hitting the floor. It isn’t as easy as it looks…. Locals also look for foreigners to practice English with, I ended up having a two hour conversation with a couple of locals about the rehabilitation of offenders and then Vietnamese economics. Seriously wasn’t expecting that at the start of the conversation. While in HCMC you also need to visit the War museum. Some of the images from the American/Vietnamese war are hitting, especially those around the use of Agent Orange, but make sure you go. Also whilst in HCMC, have fun trying to cross the road. You do what you do in the rest of Vietnam, just walk and let the scooters, bikes, cars all move around you, but it’s a extra level of busy and crazy here!

Next stop Cambodia.

Vietnam – Part I

January 4, 2018January 4, 2018 | joefrombow

Next stop Hanoi. Not hard to sort the 30 day visa for Vietnam, just apply beforehand online then just wait at the airport. Better get used to witing, now on Vietnam time… Anyway, visa processed and calling my hostel to find out where my pickup was and it’s time to get to it. First impressions of Hanoi were busy, fast paced, polluted and good food. Ended up having plently of pho, when its £1 you can’t really go wrong. Also plenty of bang mi, getting my bread fix!

I didn’t hang around Hanoi long, after a day or so I decided to go to Halong Bay for a night, then immediately to Sapa. Both were beautiful, in different ways. Personally I prefered Sapa, but I do prefer mountains and hills to beaches and islands. Spent 3 days hiking up, down, round and through the rice paddy fields, being guided by a local woman, who despite being 6 months pregnant was making it look easy. Fortunately we had good weather, as I can imagine hiking in bad weather would be a nightmare, and spoil the views. It was cold at night though, wore all the clothes I had and still was cold, cold hands make using chopsticks fun….

Back to Hanoi for Christmas which was celebrated on Christmas Eve. Lots of locals came out and enjoyed the day, before lots of alcohol was drank in the evening. It was the second time I’ve spent Christmas away from home, and it’s nice to be somewhere warmer! Also to be away from all the ‘IT’S CHRISTMAS. BUY STUFF.’ attitude and commercialism that we have shoved in our faces at home.

After Christmas, bounced down to Ninh Binh for a couple of days. Here, unfortunately the bad weather hit us which continued for a few days, following us down to Hue, until we got down to Hoi An. It was a shame the bad weather hit, but it’s the season for it and can’t really complain when the same weather system caused a typhoon that killed people in the Philippines.

But the weather didn’t stop the fun, if rain stopped the British we’d get nothing done. In Ninh Binh got out to the bird park and did a boat trip around Trang Any, which was quite nice despite the rain. In Hue visited the Imperial City and then the DMZ. The tunnels were easily the best and most interesting part of visiting the DMZ. The rest, I’m not sure it was worth the time or money….

Then down to Hoi An, which might be my favourite place so far in Vietnam, it’s either Sapa or Hoi An. The old town is beautiful especially at night with laterns lit up everywhere. It’s also really easy to spend money in Hoi An; getting clothes tailor made, shoes made to fit or buying laterns. I opted to only get a suit jacket made which has now been sent home, fingers crossed it gets there! But if you need a new suit or want one of the beautiful Ao Dai dresses and you’re in the area, get it done. Hundreds of tailors and not expensive.

Was also in Hoi An for NYE, again alot of alcohol was drank and instead of fireworks at midnight, we ended up getting rain right on midnight. But hey, I’m English…..

And right now I’m writing this as I’m on the latest travel phase, an 18 hour ‘sleeper’ bus to Mui Ne. Does anyone actually get much sleep on a sleeper, unless they take valium??…