Flying Solo.

The unfortunate event of Ben and Chloe having to head home to the UK meant I now had to fend for myself. With Ben back in SEA, the blog is also back, so a little overview of what I have been up to in the last couple of months is due.  

Ben and Chloe made the journey home from Hanoi (North Vietnam). This meant it was time for me to head down south. I started by making my way to Hoi An by plane. The next few days were spent enjoying the beautiful scenery, eating some traditional Vietnamese food and spending time with some friends we had previously met in Ha Long Bay. As an overall Hoi An was an awesome break from the busy city of Hanoi and a great place to relax after a very busy 10 days in the north. From here I jumped on an overnight bus heading to Dalat. The bus was very comfortable and a lot better than the busses experienced in Thailand and Laos. Some highlights of Dalat for me included the crazy house and a day trip to see the waterfalls, if you ever find yourself in Vietnam I would recommend these activities highly. The next stop was Ho Chi Minh (capital of Vietnam), I had been recommended a hostel called Hideaway which ended up being awesome. I met a couple of Dutch lads on my first night and spent the next few days with them seeing the Cu Chi Tunnels, exploring the city and of course learning about the devastating effects of the war in the museums. As my visa was running out this concluded my time in Vietnam.

From Vietnam I flew into Bangkok ready to start making my way down south. I only spent one night in Bangkok before catching another overnight bus down to Koh Tao which is the smallest Island South East of Thailand. This journey was an absolute disaster! Firstly the bus was not a sleeper bus with the seats unable to recline, I then was dropped off at a port at 3am to wait for our ferry at 8am to which I tried to get some sleep on a bench in the rain! Eventually I made it to the hostel around 11am, had some rest in the lobby and checked into the dorm at 2pm. The next 10 days were spent in Koh Tao relaxing by the beach, trekking to view points and devouring the local cuisine. I was fortunate enough to meet a couple from Bristol and two Irish girls who I then spent the next 2 weeks with. We headed over to the West side of South Thailand with an over night ferry and a morning bus which was an experience to say the least. On this side of Thailand we went to Ao Nang, Railey beach, Krabi Town and of course Koh Phi Phi. With there not being much traditional culture in the South of Thailand the majority of our time was spent on stunning beaches and enjoying all sorts of boat trips. I have to admit there seemed to also be a lot more “partying” here as well which meant after saying some sad goodbyes to everyone I was ready for some time away from the beers. I travelled back to Koh Tao at this point to start my open water diving course. This was my first time scuba diving and what an experience it was, an exam and 6 dives later I received my open water certification. I met a lad called Rohan whilst diving and coincidently our visa’s were running out on the same day. This led to us catching a flight to the next destination, Cambodia.

We started our Cambodian adventure in Phnom Phen, the capital of Cambodia. This city reminded me a lot of Bangkok. I personally was not a massive fan of Phnom Phen, that being said, we made the most of it by exploring the city and learning about the genocide. This was a very emotional experience visiting the killing fields and hearing about all the awful stories. The next stop was Koh Rong, which is an Island in the South ofCambodia. This has got to be up there with one of the most beautiful islands I visited, I especially enjoyed the fact that it was very remote meaning phone service and Wi-Fi was very limited. Every Saturday they have a festival on the beach as well which was a lot of fun! From here we headed up North to Siem Reap. We ended up staying in Siem Reap for around 10 days due to the hostel being amazing and the weather being gorgeous. The highlight of Siem Reap has got to be Angkor Wat, one of the wonders of the world. We did a day tour around all the temples starting with Angkor Wat temple for sun rise. It was a fascinating experience. This ended our travels through Cambodia with a sad good bye to Rohan (not knowing we would be together again in Malaysia).

From here, knowing Ben was going to be back in SEA in around 3 weeks time, I jumped back over to Bangkok (for the third time lol). My friends Matt and Tom joined me in Bangkok, Matt being a friend from home who came out for a 2 week holiday and Tom being a mate from London who had finished his travels in Vietnam so came to join us. We made our way down south visiting Koh Samui, Koh Tao (again) and finishing the 2 weeks with the full moon party in Koh Phangan. We spent a lot of our time relaxing, eating and drinking, which to me feels like what everyone does down in the Islands in Thailand! Again, after what was a heavy 2 weeks, a break was needed from the booze meaning when Matt caught his flight home Tom an I had some very chilled days to finish off Thailand before making our way into Malaysia to meet up with Ben!