We spent a couple of days in Noosa, which is a lovely little town on the Sunshine Coast. The high street was quite upmarket, well for backpackers anyway, with loads of nice restaurants, shops and ice cream shops - Lou and I are eating our way around Australia in ice creams. On our first day we went for a walk around the national park. We took the coastal path alongside the beach so we could check out the surf. I know it’s cheesy but the place so reminds me of Home and Away with all the kids running along with their [View Full Entry]

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We had quite a few drunken nights out with Jo, Aaron, Sarah and Sarah, all of which I’m blaming on Aaron’s bad influence! The first was Jo and Aaron’s party which was a great afternoon and evening. The sun was shining and the drinks definitely flowed…lots of champagne, wine and cocktails. They served some lovely food as well and a great cheese platter which Lou and I tucked into - we’d had no cheese during our 8 months in Asia. We met lots of their friends, who were all very lovely including Nick who we stayed with a bit later on. [View Full Entry]

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We travelled to Margaret River with Dara, an Irish guy we'd met in Perth, and met Cat on the bus on the way down. The four of us had a couple of really funny, drunken days at Margaret River, sampling the local wines, liquers, champagnes, cocktails, cheese, chocolate, ice cream....so a lot of indulgence! We spent the first day exploring and watched the sun set at the beach which was cool. On the second day, we went on a wine tour of the region which was excellent. The area is beautiful, really green and lush, with lots of bushland, parks and [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Kuching from KK - the hostel we'd booked 'Singasanga' was really lovely, the staff are super friendly, the place is decorated so nicely and they have a really cool rooftop bar where we ate/drank lots of vodka watermelon on the first night. We spent the first couple of days exploring the city . Kuching is a really pretty city, very laid back with a waterfront promenade full of places to eat, drink and shop. We stayed in the old town just opposite the river - it has a lot more character and charm than the newer, shopping mall [View Full Entry]

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We spent the second part of Mum and Dad's holiday in Pai, a small village in northern Thailand set on a river and surrounded by mountains and hills. Mum had booked two beautiful villas on the river, the lovliest place in Pai with really nice gardens and a great restaurant. It was lovely having breakfast in the morning by the river. We had a really nice relaxing week. We spent the first day strolling around town looking in the shops and sunbathing in deckchairs by the river. Second day we were a little more active - spent the morning at a [View Full Entry]

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We took an overnight bus ride from Nha Trang to Hoi An and found a really cute guest house on the river. Hoi An is really pretty, lots of cobbled streets full of tailor shops, restaurants and some lovely french patisserie shops selling gorgeous cakes. The town really reminded me of China, especially as it was Tet (New Year) so the place was decorated with lots of Chinese dragons and latterns. On our first day we bumped into the Irish girls we met on the Mekong Delta boat tour and spent the afternoon in the french cafe with them which was [View Full Entry]

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Ahhhh the day had arrived, to see our Mum and Dad! We had been so excited about it! We met them in our hotel in Chaing Mai and it was so lovely to see them. We just chatted and chatted over coffee in the hotel and then went out to explore the city. Although Chaing Mai is a city it is really laid back and friendly. We went to an Italian place outside for some beers and gin and tonics in the sunshine. Then we found a travel place to see about some trips to do in Chiang Mai. We took [View Full Entry]

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We got to Hanoi on the night bus from Hoi An and oh my god it was so cold! The bus was freezing and it just got colder the further north we got! And yep Hanoi was really cold and we really don't have any winter stuff and all the shops were closed because of Tet (new year). We found a hotel with a heater, a bit pricier but worth it. We did a lot of sitting by that heater! On the first day we wondered around the old quarter where we were staying which are really old narrow streets and [View Full Entry]

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We all felt we deserved a massage, we hadn't had one since Phu Quoc so headed to a hotel which had a sign advertising them. We paid for the massage and then headed upstairs to be greeted by lots of red lights and what I realise now was the madame/pimp. A few girls wearing tiny short skirts with slits up the side came our and all started giggling hysterically at us, guess they're not used to women coming for "massage". Warning bells should have told us to leave at this point but but we'd paid our dong so we headed into [View Full Entry]

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So me Chris and Aid set off for our trek up Langbian mountain near Lat Village in Dalat. Aid was dressed appropraitely in her knee high brown Russel and Bromley boots, and me and Chris in our daggy "multi purpose sports" trainers...... We got the bus to Lat village and stopped at a shop to buy some water before our climb. I was tempted by the biscuits but was reassured by Aid and Chris that there was a restaurant at the top and plenty of stalls on the way up. So we began our ascent. We walked along a windy road [View Full Entry]

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