Me love you long time, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam adventures

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Arriving into Thailand was like arriving into a familiar city even though I've never been there before in my life! There's a real western order to things and lots of familiar shops, was a little over-excited to see a boots and can't believe they have a Tesco out here too! That said its got it's own unique and beautiful Asian culture and the temples are magnificent, beautiful ornate dragons and gilded temple roofs in shimmering green and red and gold colours. Taking a trip along the river to watch the sunset was great and there are dozens of cheap and tasty street markets, barely ate at any restaurant the whole time I was there. Khaosan Road was a lot of fun from what i remember although it all went a little sketchy after a bucket of god knows what. I was expecting well, something a little bigger it kind of reminded me of whitefriargate back in hull with a few more spangly lights! I suffered my first changeover afterwards, that stuff is just horrible! After a few days in Bangkok I decided to head for some sun and sea at Koh Tao. Travelling around was proving to be a doddle vs India if you travel there reckon could travel anywhere.

The South Islands were beautiful and Koh Tao was paradise. Met up with the lovely Becca Horn from home, was so nice to catch up with a familiar face and share stories of our travels. Decided to do a dive course, Koh Tao is full of dive schools. I settled with the Buddha View which had come recommended and price pretty good to get your 18m PADI. It was an intense few days learning theory and practicing in the pool. Felt so strange breathing underwater at first but soon got used to it. My 'buddy' in class was also called Fiona and she was lovely, we hung out and were equally as nervous and excited about our first proper dive. I was definitely crapping myself a little more than her. After many a graceful entry off the boat I fell into the water like a lead weight fumbling around to find the inflate button for my jacket. That first experience following the boy line down and going deeper into the darkness of the sea was both exhilarating and terrifying, I kept telling myself just breath normally and you'll be fine but I did panic a little which meant my breathing was too shallow and I kept rising up to the surface. My instructor had to write on an etch-a-sketch for me to take deep breaths which instantly meant I started to slowly sink down to meet my buddy who was cool as a cucumber below. After that it just got better and better. I couldn't believe I was breathing underwater! We saw some beautiful coral and butterfly fish, nemos and barracuda. Loved the whole experience and passed my PADI so can officially dive anywhere in the world. Feeling chuffed to bits I took my newly diving certified self back to Bangkok and headed straight out on an early morning train to Chiang Mai to see A LOT more temples, was seriously starting to get templed out by this point. The North of Thailand is very pretty, lush green hills and mountains. I fell in love with Pai which is a little further North West. A quiet little town up in the hills with amazing street food, a very chilled out place. We stayed at a great hostel called Darling which was ideal for doing bugger all, lazing in a hammock for three days, swimming in the pool to cool off ah this is tough! Someone did steal my new havs from the pool though and left me with their fake ones which was much appreciated, ta very bloody much for that.

Heading out of Northern Thailand I travelled overland to Laos. The quoted five hour journey to the boarder turned out to be nine hours (no idea why they don't just tell you the real time it takes!). Included in our ticket was a nights accommodation which we had three hours sleep in before we got up for our 6.30am breakfast which turned out wasn't included after all! Note to self always get them to write down on the ticket what they say is included!! I'd met Lene an Hille in Pai, both from Germany, and we travelled on into Laos together. We all ended up heading to Luang Namtha further North for some trekking before heading south to Luang Prabang. Loved it in Luang Namtha. It was a quiet little town with only a few tourists around. We trekked into the nearby hills, through the rice valleys and jungle to the mountain village where we stayed for the night in huts made out of bamboo. There were only about 70 people in this village and they were equally as interested in us as we were by them. The women wore combs in their hair as part of their traditional dress and there were chickens and piglets running around the huts. The food in Laos was also lush,Especially the stuff we had on the trek lots of fresh, tomato, chilli and garlic served in banana leaves. Like in Thailand ate pretty much in street markets the whole time; fresh spring roles and amazing soups accompanied by a cheeky beer Laos which is cheaper than water.

After our trek we journeyed onto Luang Prabang, a beautiful old French colonial town where the Mekong river runs through the middle. Really loved it here, had an amazing street market, all you can eat buffet for 20p yusss! Also a real nice waterfall you could swim in to cool off. There were some good bars to head to later but everything closed down at 11pm.The only place to venture was this after hours bowling alley out of town (of course?!) A group of us decided to head over, we walked in and all exchanged puzzled looks; It was like turning up to the rollerblade party in your local town hall when you were a kid! But there were no flashing lights and no cheesy music by a bad dj it was just well people bowling having a few tinnies, rather odd. Continuing south we arrived at Vang Vieng. The journey there was beautiful, all the views along the way to our different destinations in Laos had been pretty awesome. Rising and falling through the valleys, there are lots of rivers which run the length of the Country so a lot of good land for farming and gorgeous countryside. Given it was the rainy season the rice fields in particular were glistening bright green.

Vang vieng was a fun place to be, better known for tubing I was surprised how pretty it was. All the tvs were blasting out family guy and friends on constant repeat you couldn't help getting sucked in as you walked passed. It rained quite a lot in the evenings so we got soaked as we made a mad dash from one bar to the next. Me, Hile and Lena decided to kayak from here to Vientiane - Laos capital, I've never kayaked before in by life and at the mention of three rapids still thought I'd give it a go, I had one of the instructors with me so figured would be fine. The poor guy, he had to do a lot of work to make up for my crap skills (didn't even realise I was paddling backwards) It was bloody hard work! My arms were killing after 5 minutes and we had another two hours! When we went over the rapids they just said paddle real fast, my arms span round like a maniac and my knuckles turned white holding on to the paddles really hard. I enjoyed it though, especially the rapids. We met some girls in another group who got stuck in one of them and had to be rescued, think I had a lucky escape thanks to my man behind.We did get massively ripped off only did an hours kayaking and 7 hours in a van not quite how it was sold, don't book the kayaking trip with Green Discovery!

The less said about Vientiane the better, most boring capital I've ever visited, maybe more of a let down because everything else before had been so great. Also not helped by the constant rain we encountered when we were there. After a couple of days we flew out to Vietnam. You can do a thirty hour overland option into Vietnam which I considered but opted for the one hour flight instead even though it was bloody expensive! Hanoi was a very pretty capital city centred around a lake with a floating pagoda. We were staying in the old quarter where all the hostels and cheap eats and markets were. The roads were crazy!! six lanes of traffic all coming towards you, you have to start walking at a steady pace and they all weave round you whilst i'm muttering oh fuck, oh fuck under my breath! The streets are buzzing in the old quarter, motorcycles. people, food stalls and women selling fresh fruit poised on their shoulder straps all mingle together with the tourists on the narrow winding streets. I loved it. That first night I randomly bumped into Millie from the first India trip I did it was her last night before flying home so we went out for some street BBQ which you cook yourself and comes with loads of fresh green veg. It's so funny how you manage to bump into people in different countries, you always see the same faces all following a similar route.We headed out to Ha long bay after a few days of sightseeing which was stunning, there are a lot if boats out three with you but it doesn't matter it's still amazing! We got to kayak around the bay which was pretty cool. We were hoping for a bit of a party boat in the evening but it turned out to be me Lena and Hilla and a bunch Chinese tourists in their 50's, surely they'd be up for karaoke later at least? No, but they still got 3 hours of me and Lena getting drunk on cheap Hanoi vodka we smuggled on board doing a rendition of all our favourite songs. We sounded bloody awful but had a lot fun! The food was yummy, lots of fresh seafood. We were meant to be going to Cat Ba island the next day but a typhoid was reported so all the boats were called back and we had to go back to Hanoi.

I really wanted to go to Sapa which is a village town further North, i managed to find a great trip that was heading over there by night bus that same evening, within a few hours of getting back into Hanoi I was on the road again. My first 10 hour sleeper bus! It was totally fine you even got a pillow and leopard print blanket each! Sapa was beautiful I was so glad I came, all the villagers were dressed in the same local clothing long skirts and smock tops with beautifully embroided colours stitched along the hem. Our guide was one of the villagers, she was only 20 and her English which she picked up from tourists was brilliant. There were about 10 of us in our trekking group. We walked along the rice fields and through the different villages. We were also accompanied by a lot of other local women and children, who were more than happy to lend a hand. When we stopped for lunch they unveiled all their wares from the baskets they'd been carrying to sell to you. I couldn't help buying something. All the children were walking around selling bracelets, beautiful girls all sounding the same chorus 'buy one from me, you buy one from me' their persistence often proved successful. In spite of the rain the views were uplifting and we had a really fun night in a homestay getting drunk on the homebrew rice wine. Met some lovely people on this trek and the vista of never ending balconys of rice fields lined as far as the eye can see was breathtaking. Never seen anything quite like it.

After Sapa I headed south on another night bus to Hue the former capital with some ancient ruins from the glory days former kings that once ruled. I ended up hiring a motorbike and driver to get round the sites. I debated just hiring a bike and giving it a go but was too scared but Its definity the best and cheapest way to travel around places once your there. My driver was a real miserable fucker. He didn't seem to like it when I asked where we were heading to next. Vietnam so far been beautiful and some people were very friendly but some were just down right mean and moody which did make it hard work at times. I didn't stay too long in Hue opting to head to Hoi An. Further south along the coast famous for the tailors and clothes makers it was one of my favourite places in Vietnam (wonder why, SHOPPING?!) it had two lovely beaches close by the town which was ideal, the town center was gorgeous the buildings had dark mahagony wood shutters and bright yellow facades which were very striking, at nighttime lanterns hang from the tree and floating candles are placed into the river. A tourist gimmick but it still looked very pretty. The local food was really good here white rose which were shrimp dumplings and the pancakes wrapped in rice paper. I ended up treating myself to a couple of nights in a fancy hotel with Lena and Hille at a whopping $16 a night! Haha was so cheap still but the most I'd spent was half that up until then. I had my first bath in 4 months which also meant it was worth it, was amazing!!! Hoi An was happy times indeed.

The next week was spent moving from one beach to the next along the south coast. Nha Trang was nice with a huge municipal beach. Me and Lena did a day trip aboard the funkey monkey boat! You cruised around some differnet islands, swam in the sea, drank beers and listened to the funkey monkey boy band it was so cheesy but good fun. There were a few good photography places to visit here too. I stumbled into one shop looking for a card for Dad and met this amazing photographer, Mai Loc. He used to drive a cyclo around Nha Trang picking up tourists where he met a Norwegian couple and they became good friends. Not only did they help towrrds english lessons so he was eventually able to open his own bussiness, they also bought him his first camera as a wedding present andhe discovered his talent for taking pictures which hes now able to do full time. His pictures were beatuful, mainly of elderly people from the minority villages close by and children. I ended up buying two of his photographs which was a little out my budget but worth it. To break up the beach time we went inland to stop by Dalat which is quite high up in the south central highlands. Theres not a lot to see in the town but the surrounding countryside is nice. It was where a lot of fighting took place during the Vietnam War leading up to the area near Hue close to the famous Demilitarised zone . As an early Birthday present I ended up doing a tour with Easy Riders driving on the back of a motorbike from Dalat to Mui Ne (near the coast) so I could see a bit more of the surrounding land and villages. Over two days me and my driver Sue rode to differnt villages and waterfalls, i met coffee and tomatoe farmers, visited silk worm,brick and cotton factories and watched as dragonfruit got picked from the the vast plantations off these stange cactus like plants they grow from. It was great to get off the beaten track and see another part of everyday life in Vietnam. I loved being on the bike driving through the Countryside, as we rode along the roads next to the jungle you could smell the trees and hear the birds and animals buzzing around you it was a great experience. Only downside was when i had a bit of a raj with Sue when i asked if we could vere somewhere off the 'schedule', I asked nicely but he took it as complaining and got a bit shirty. Some of the vietnemese men were incredibley defensive or maybe he just couldn't be bothered, really don't know!

Mui Ne was boiling when I arrived got straight into the sea to cool off. its a really cool place and the sand dunes there are amazing. There are these red and white dunes you can walk around, we hired mats so we could skid down them from the littles kids who swarm around you when you arrive, haha was so much fun you'd never guess I was going to be 31 in a few days! It was only a short bus ride onto Saigon from here. Alot of people had said it wasn't that nice a City but I really liked it here. Not as pretty as Hanoi but there was lots to do and see. We visited the Cu Chi tunnels that were built in the Vietnam or 'American War' as called here. They were so small not sure how they managed to live under here for days, pretty incredible. I got in one of the small tunnels to try it but chickened out of crawling through one of the longer ones. Straight after this I went to to War museum, this was hard work - there were lots of very graphic pictures of the children with deformties from the agent orange gasses dropped through-out the war. The figures for how much they used was staggering, hadn't realised how bad it was and that the US govenemnt is still paying money now to the victims who continue to be born with defcets. We also did a day trip out along the floating markets of the Mekong which was good fun. Time had come to say goodbye to Vietnam and head to Cambodia. Also to say goodbye to Lena and Hille, friends I'll defintly stay in touch with long after this trip I hope. I had been so nervous about travelling around S.E Asia on my own but i was barely on my own for more than a couple of nights. I'd met so many incredibly lovely and warm people along the way, it had been a brilliant few months. And still Cambodia and Myanmar to come before I get to Oz bring it on!

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Photos

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Leaving my mark on the prayer scroll at Doi Suthep temple

With baby tigers at a sanctuary in Chiang Mai

Comments

[Beccy]

Well jel
Hi honey, love your latest blog post - makes me feel as though I\'m there with you. Made me laugh as I did a lot of the same stuff and came away with very similar perceptions! I loved Hoi An, it pissed it down when I was there too, and enjoyed chilling in the sun at Mui Ne, and also trekked around a silk worm factory (?!) on the Easy Riders thing. The pics look great and it sounds as though you\'re having an amazing time. Very big hugs xx