JezandKiara

As we changed our original plans and diverted to the Philippines for a few weeks, it was the first time we have gone to a new country without a Lonely Planet, without a plan of what we wanted to see and do and without knowing what was going to be behind the Pinoy door. But this is what this trip is all about, rolling the dice and seeing what numbers come up. So after a quick look at a map we decided that we would go and visit the banana shaped island of Palawan, the most westerly island in the Philippines archipelago. The basis for choosing this island its proximity to the Borneo state of Sabah- perhaps we could catch a boat across to the Malaysian state and explore it as we have only been to ... read more

Hanoi to Nanning Our time had come to leave Vietnam and its 30c beers. We could hear China whispering to us to come and get her. We were hoping the next 10hrs on the bus would be worth the sore bums as it was the first chapter in our China sojourn. Luckily for us there wasn't many people on the bus and we were able to stretch out across the back seats on the winding pot hole riddled roads en route to a fascinating place that remains relatively unchartered from the hordes of independent travellers that fill the Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia bloc. You know that you have arrived in China when you hit the border crossing and the roads go from crumbling concrete Swiss cheese on the Vietnam side to well-maintained tarmac on Mao's ... read more

We thought that we would provide some candid reviews of our time in Vietnam. We have used a combination of booking agents such as: hostels.com and agoda.com Ho Chi Minh City Green Suites Hotel (http://greensuiteshotel.com/) $26/night for a private room Great location in the backpacker district (District One). The staff were helpful and you didnt get the feeling that they were trying to impose tours on you. Free WiFi and internet- facebook friendly property. Definitely not the cheapest, but at least they had a lift, 24hr reception and security and a small hot breakfast included. The hotel was quiet and well maintained. Overnight Train to Nha Trang $30 each (Soft Sleeper) Luckily enough the four berth cabin was half full meaning it was ours to do as we pleased. The trip left at 8pm at night ... read more

(Still trying to figure out how to embed photos, apparently you cant do it with a Macbook, and a few other things to make this thing easier to read and more engaging. . . . . stick with us, we may have to balance ourselves between the laptop and internet cafes) . . . . Ho Chi Minh City There was a little bit of preparation for our Vietnam sojourn, namely online Visa applications that dont seem to mean very much upon arrival into HCMC. It cost about 30USD per person to get a pre-approval for a Visa and unbeknown to us, we thought we could just skip through customs and start smashing a few Saigon beers. Not so fast Aussie's, you now have to wait in line for your pre-approval to be processed into a ... read more