It's difficult to summarise my travelling in one post as so much happened and I experienced a lot of incredible things. However, travelling isn't just one big happy holiday, there are times where all you want to do is go home. I think it takes a particular type of person to withstand the challenges of long term travel, and I can 100% say that I am not the type. Since returning, I can honestly say that not once have I wanted to return at this moment in time. I certainly miss my adventures and am so happy I went but in all honesty, my life and home is here. I have my future career here, which isn't available abroad, so I'm grateful to have travelled but thankful that it only lasted 4 months.
So, as I experienced many highs but equally many lows, here are my best and worst travel moments!
BEST: Going to a Cat Cafe in Bangkok
This is an experience I have always wanted to do, and I finally ticked it off my bucket list in Bangkok. Just down the road from the MBK shopping centre is a really cool cat cafe! You can go in a have food and drink, whilst playing with the cats. We were lucky to have our own sat on our table which we could brush!
WORST: Turning up to our Koh Tao hostel
After enduring an 8-hour overnight bus and boat journey, the only thing on our minds was a nice shower and a clean room. Our hostel turned out to have anything but these things. The shower was absolutely disgusting and full of spiders (my biggest fear), and the rooms were so tiny that you could hardly move. The mattresses were like A&E plastic mats, and there were only two showers between the whole hostel. TWO!! Not only that, but because we had arrived at 9am, we had to wait until 2pm to check in after being up pretty much the entire night. Not about that travel life.
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| Around 5am in the morning, catching the boat to Koh Tao |
BEST: Winning bowling whilst drunk in Laos
In Luang Prabang, there is not much nightlife. The main bar that every backpacker goes to closes at 11.15pm, so instead of going to bed, everyone goes... bowling! Yep, the bowling alley is open to 2am and serves alcohol, which means you can get drunk and bowl at the same time. Who knew that I was so good at bowling whilst being intoxicated?
WORST: Contracting a nasty virus in Bali
On our last day in Bali, I caught a horrible virus that left me feeling sick, faint, and incredibly tired. Not only that, but I also had to get up at 5am the next morning for what was the longest ferry journey to Lombok (which also doesn't have a proper hospital). I have never felt as ill as I have, and luckily it only lingered for about a week. My other side effects included puffy eyes, loss of appetite, swollen tonsils and my lymph nodes in my groin were tender and painful for about a week after. I thought I had contracted malaria! Thank god it didn't get any worse.
BEST: Tubing on the Mekong River
Whether you like it or not, everyone mainly visits Vang Vieng in Laos to go tubing, which is basically drinking in a rubber ring whilst floating down a river. You can stop off at bars along the way to grab some drinks. It might sound dangerous, but it is actually a lot of fun! At one point, I was very tipsy and the current was so strong that I was clinging on for dear life to a wooden pole whilst trying to hold on to my friends. The water wasn't deep so your chances of drowning are pretty slim, and as long as you are a sensible drinker, it can be a very fun experience!
WORST: Taking a hungover flight to Hue
Somehow we decided it would be a good idea to get way too drunk in Hanoi the night before our flight to Hue. This resulted in us meeting a friendly Vietnamese/American in a bar where he proceeded to buy us a lot of drinks, then dancing with some Americans in a club and trying the local delicacy of fried chicken feet, kindly offered to us by a lovely Vietnamese couple. It's safe to say that I woke up feeling pretty rough (and still drunk) the next morning. Throw a flight into the mix and you have the world's worst hangover. That's a day I never want to relive ever again.
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| My new Vietnamese friend |
BEST: Watching Beauty and the Beast and eating Domino's in Hanoi
By this point, I was over half way into my travels and it had been a long time since I had tried any western food or visited a western style mall. I was also desperate to see Beauty and the Beast, so we hopped in a cab to take us to the nearest mall. Oh boy, this mall was so clean and shiny, which is exactly what I needed. We had Domino's pizza which is expensive for Vietnamese standards, but cheap for the UK. After, we went to the nicest cinema so I could finally get my Disney fix. I wouldn't have changed that day for anything.
WORST: Being on a bus that hit a motorcyclist in Ho Chi Minh
Whilst on our way to the Cu Chi tunnels, our crazy bus driver hit a motorcyclist off his bike whilst turning. My friend Charlotte was sitting by the window and saw the whole thing, and when I looked, all I could see was the man lying in a pool of blood on the floor with one leg at a right angle. Luckily there were two doctors on our bus who immediately went to help him. Another lucky scenario was the fact that we were close to a hospital. The paramedics turned up in what I can only describe as a trailer type ambulance, and the man was treated. It was scary stuff, and I'm confident that he had only broken his leg and cut his head. Vietnam is notorious for dangerous moped drivers, but when you are personally involved in a crash, that's when you realise just how much of an issue it is. The worst part? Our poor tour guide who had been flung into the windscreen during the collision then had to carry on leading our tour. Poor him!
BEST: Our day tour of Lombok from the locals
Lombok is a very quiet yet beautiful island. The best way to see it is to hire a guide for the day to take you to the main sites like the Tiu Kelep waterfall. Our guide drove us around and let us experience the true Lombok. We were accompanied by his trainee (Apenkz) who was only 17 and really interested in improving his English. They drove us everywhere and our tour lasted the entire day. At the end, they took us to a secluded beach so we could watch the sunset, and it was here that I truly experienced the peace and tranquillity of Lombok. They also bought us some Ramadan local street food that most tourists don't get to try. It was delicious and is only available during Ramadan, so we really experienced the local way of life. It was one of my favourite days and the best thing is that I still have Apenkz on facebook, so can keep in contact with him!
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| Lombok Sunset |
WORST: Bus journey to Pai
If you get motion sickness, you may want to prepare yourself for the bus journey from Chiang Mai to Pai. It has 762 turns, which resulted in the windiest bus journey of my entire life. Couple that with the fact that we were crammed into the back with very little leg room, and you have the journey from hell. The couple in front of us unfortunately couldn't handle the turns and suffered from motion sickness, which led to the rest of our journey smelling like vomit. Oh, there's also no way back other than the way you came, so you have to endure the same journey again. This time, I was sitting near the front and literally got flung from me seat whilst wearing a seat belt. Not for the faint hearted!
