Hong Kong

For my second journey to the other side of the world, I had every intention of continuing my blog...however, owing to the fact that I am no writer, I had no crazy desire to spend time writing when I could be napping. (I mean, travelling and experiencing new things of course!) Infact, napping is pretty much the opposite of what I did here. Visiting for only three weeks instead of a few months, I wanted to cram in as much as I could, which hasn't left much time for writing! Currently on my 5th rain soaked day of Taiwan however, I thought I could find the time to document some stuff before I grow old and forget everything. Plus I'm doing my first load of washing that doesn't consist of a bathroom sink and a hairdryer so I feel justified in not wandering around in the rain for a few hours. So, relying on my memory, here goes...

First stop, Hong Kong! 

Final stop, Vietnam!

Finally on my way to Vietnam! Now my experience at the border wasn't a good one! The bus from Savannakhet was full to the brim of Laos people and I was the only westerner...this wasn't a problem - until I got to the border! It seemed as though the guards at the border had never seen a British passport before. Everyone on my bus was stamped out of Laos, stamped into Vietnam and were back on the bus. I was the only one taken aside to a small room saying 'Health check' above it....this made me think of horrific procedures and I was very worried as to what they were going to do to me! The guard pointed what looked like a taser gun at my head, and seeing the worried look on my face, he laughed and wrote down my temperature. -_-

So they kept me at border control for over an hour. Every ten minutes or so, they would come and ask me a question, such as "Are you German?" (clearly they didn't get the British passport..) "Are you sure you haven't been to Vietnam before?", "Have you lost your passport before?" And "Are you sure you declared it as lost?" It turns out I had lost my passport about 6 years ago, and with all the questions I was slowly convincing myself that someone had been jetting around the world on my old passport! No one spoke good enough English to reassure me of my crazy thoughts. I asked if I could speak to the bus driver in order to make sure they waited for me...but the bus had gone. Now I was really worried! Running about like a dafty, panicky tears filling up...I thought I was stranded with no bags. They made a motorbike action to me - and I thought we were going to catch up with the bus...which I thought would be pretty fun! But a few minutes later...they came back on the motorbike with the bus driver on the back! He had come to reassure me that they hadn't infact left...they were just ten minutes away getting petrol. Phew. Seems silly panicking, but no one told me and it definitely wouldn't have surprised me if they had left! 

They then gave me back my passport - clearly the tears had helped! So we walked for 15 minutes back to the bus (I still think maybe they were leaving without me...) and as I got onto the bus, I was apologising profusely for keeping them waiting for over an hour - thinking I would be received with an angry mob of people! But instead, I got a round of applause and was told continuously that I was beautiful. Everyone here is just so entranced by how pale I am...I thought they would be used to tourists but apparently not! Lots of people touch my arms, hair, stare and take photos...it's not something I want to get used to...

Arrived in Hue! The old capital of Vietnam. 

Art gallery by the river...(couldn't take photos inside):

Second stop, Laos!

Day 9 (Monday 18th May 2015)

My days are starting to get a little bit mixed up with all the travelling, but I am finally in Luang Pronang after an 8 hour slow boat from Pek Bang. This morning, myself and a few other travellers got up early and headed down to the boat an hour and a half before it left. The TukTuks were meant to take us down but we ended up walking - the reason being, we wanted a good seat for the longer half of the journey! 

Yesterday we were near the back of the boat, and the noise of the engine meant that you couldnt speak to the person next to you. We got the best seats with loads of leg room! I say the best seats - they were infact just old bus seats plonked on the floor and not nailed down. I thoroughly enjoyed this half of the trip though. It was longer, but I got talking to some local people who were also making the journey.

The mother in a family of four, saw a few of us watching the food she was eating with fascination! What I thought were unopened nuts, turned out to be a sweet fruit with the texture of a date, but in the shell similar to monkey nuts. I can't for the life of me remember the name, but she shared her food with us and we got to taste proper local Lao food! She gave us pork, sticky rice, bamboo and dried fruit. I had bought a mango for the journey and began to cut it up. I was making a bit of a mess (the mangos here are super juicy!) so she showed me how to do it properly - you learn something new everyday! She then shared her own mango, which was unripe...It's not like the unripe mangos in Britain though...it was completely different in taste and texture to a ripe mango and really delicious!

 I enjoyed my journey and chatted to a Canadian couple, Krismina and Kevin, and we ended up staying in the same guest house when we got to Luang Probang.

Krismina with Kevin in the background! 

After looking at a few different rooms, we decided on the Aussie Sports Bar Guest House. Single rooms don't really exist so as a solo traveller I had to pay for a double room. The cheapest here was 95,000Kip (Nearly £8). Laos is definitely more expensive than Thailand! Although £8 for a room seems like nothing to us tourists, it feels expensive when you're out here! Things like taxis, boats and busses are cheap, but you need a lot of them so the cost does add up. I'm way over budget...but I'm hoping that when I stay in one place for longer, I will reduce my cost by buying food in bulk rather than eating out. 

So Krismina, Kevin and I headed to the night market. Luang Probang is a small city but there's lots going on! The market was my favourite one so far and I probably spent more than I should! Ive found that when you're bartering down, if you get 50% off the asking price, then that's reasonable. If they don't give in, walking  away really does work because they call you back and accept your offer! 

After a while I headed back to the hotel to catch up on some sleep before my short trek the next day. I woke up at about 2am to use the toilet. On leaving the bathroom, I saw a huge spider on the outside of the bathroom door. I'm talking, the size of the palm of my hand! I hate spiders, and I guess I should have expected something like this, but I just wasn't prepared for it in my sleepy state! There was no one around to rescue me....so I spent the next few hours texting my dad, curled up in a ball on my bed, covered in my mosquito net and left the light full on! 

About 2 hours later I decided to go see if it had gone into the bathroom where I could shut it in. I could no longer see it on the outside of the bathroom door - so I had to assume it had gone in! Using my selfie stick for the very first time, I hooked it around the open door and pulled it shut! So I'm glad I brought it with me now, even if ive not used it to take selfies yet.

...so after a few hours of disturbed sleep, I headed to the front desk at 7am and the guy came to sort it out. The spider was nowhere to be seen! It was hiding - I just hope it didn't crawl into my bag! But, he let me swap rooms and told me to always keep my door shut or something will make its way in! I was meant to head down to a yoga class at 7:30am but with all the spider drama I was exhausted! I will get a few hours sleep then walk past town to my trek. Yoga can wait until another day!

Day 10 (Tuesday 19th May 2015)

Mount Phousi - a steep climb in 38 degree heat so lots of water was a must! Here are some photos. Was 20,000Kip to go to the summit (approx £1.60) 

A sweaty mess by this point....

Day 11 (Wednesday 20th May 2015)

Had an absolutely amazing day today. Spent last night with the Irish couple that I met on the slow boat, Ruth and Stu. We went to the night market and got some really tasty street food. 10,000 Kip for a buffet (80p!). The photo below shows how much there was to chose from and how colourful all the dishes were. May have to go again tonight! 

So last night, myself Stu and Ruth booked a minivan to go to the waterfalls just outside of Luang Probang. We could have taken a TukTuk, but we had to find more people to fill the empty seats...and this way, the minivan owner does that for you! Due to be picked up from our guest house at 11:30am I walked the short walk into town for some breakfast. The waterfalls were amazing...the photos say it all! 

THE JUMP! It may look small, but to me it felt like a cliff..

At the waterfalls, we saw moon bears and sun bears...they were rescued from China where they were kept in tiny cages for years, with devices attached to them in order to extract bile for Chinese medicine. Was pretty horrific when we saw the cages they were kept in. But this enclosure offered lots of space and information about each bear...we stayed there for a while as they were quite funny to watch. Chilling out in a hammock, on a log or in the pool, they seemed to have very happy lives! 

We stayed at the waterfalls for a few hours before heading back into Luang Probang. The journey there and back cost 50,000 kip each (£4) plus 20,000 for entry into the waterfalls (£1.60) so a pretty cheap day for such a great experience. 

Day 11 (Thursday 21st May 2015)

Had a pretty chilled out day today. Avoided the midday heat, then took a stroll into town for some tasty and cheap street food! I spent the evening at the night market again...it's so colourful and fascinating that I could spend hours there! It's my last night here before heading to Vang Vieng tomorrow so I bought a few souvenirs then met Stu and Ruth at our Guest House bar. We will be heading to Vang Vieng together at 3pm tomorrow via a minibus. I was meant to be going to Nong Khiow but the cost of getting there wasn't much less than getting to Vang Vieng, but it is North of Luang Probang so I would be going totally back on myself and therefore spending more time on travel. So decided to go straight to Vang Vieng and spend more time there instead. 

Laos coffee! This is WITH milk. It was possibly the best drink ive ever had. It was like coffee syrup but wasn't actually that strong. It tastes like no coffee ive ever tasted before! 

I'm not sure what this is called but it's a Laos pudding. Really tasty and filled with coconut in a kind of crepe shell. 

This is what my room looked like after finding two cockroaches in my bed! Stu and Ruth heard a scream and came to save me. They found two cockroaches and got rid of them for me! I actually don't know how I would have slept without them next door! I slept with the light on...

So quite a bit of time has passed since my last update! I don't remember day to day accounts so the last week will be a bit of a jumble. Ive had a great two weeks with Ruth and Stu...was quite sad to say goodbye! Enjoyed having the company and the chance to meet them when I never would have otherwise. When travelling with someone you spend so much time with them...and in a few short weeks I think I've made some great friends! No doubt our paths will cross again back home. A trip to Dublin for me, and Edinburgh for them! 

Luang Probang was possibly my favourite town in Laos...the scenery was stunning, the town pretty and the people friendly. After a few days here we had done most of the attractions and set off on our journey to Vang Vieng. Now google map says the journey is 2 hours 50 minutes. The travel agent we booked it through said the road is pretty bad so if we pay slightly extra for a minivan, the journey will only take 3 hours - max 4. The bus on the other hand, would take 5 hours. What we have learnt...is that people tend to lie! Over 7 hours later...we arrived in Vang Vieng! 7 hours is no problem if you know your journey is 7 hours...but when you are expecting 3, then it's not great! With many anti sickness tablets later...we arrived in Vang Vieng at night, and navigated our way (not very successfully) around the town in search for a recommended guest house. 

Views on the very bumpy journey...

Vang Vieng is a very odd town! It's hard to describe without seeing it yourself, but it's just set out very strange. It's like the town is just plonked on different main roads with no real town centre...however there was a fair bit to do and the rooms here were the best, and the cheapest we had come across! 

Despite being ill with a very iffy tummy, I wanted to make the most of my trip to this town, so Ruth Stu and myself headed in a tuktuk to some nearby caves and lagoon! 

This photo doesn't look it, but the climb to the cave was very steep! Midday heat and a sore tummy did not make this an enjoyable experience...but glad I did it and ventured into the scary cave...!

Quite light at this point, but the further we explored, the darker it got...only a few photos came out half decent!

Love how teeny tiny Ruth looks in this shot...

Lagoon at the caves...very refreshing after the hike to the top!

The next day we decided to go tubing down the river. Vang Vieng used to be known for being a party town, and full of drunken westerners! The police cracked down on this, and the bars that used to run along the river to entice tubers to get drunk on cheap booze were shut down. So the tubing experience was chilled and a great laugh! The tuktuk drove us to the beginning point and we floated down river for 4k, taking approximately 3 hours with a food stop. Not too many photos of the experience but as we were in a river, phones weren't the best thing to take out of our dry bags! Therefore the part where I collided with a tree is unfortunately not on record...

After a hard days work floating down a river, we headed to an Irish bar to celebrate the Yes vote having passed in the Repuplic of Ireland...something worth celebrating with an Irish couple! 

View from my room:

Some time spent chilling on my balcony drawing...

We spent around four days in Vang Vieng and did all the activities there was to offer, so we headed south on a 7 hour bus journey to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. I seem to have less photos of this city, but it was a vibrant and busy place! There were less things to do in Vientiane than Luang Probamg and Vang Vieng, despite it being the capital, so we spent the next few days chilling in restaurants, cafes and visiting the huge night market. I seemed to be getting worse instead of better so decided to head to the hospital recommended by the British Embassy - Ruth was kind enough to come with me and waited till I had my blood tests! On finding out that I did have a bacterial infection, I was given antibiotics, anti sickness and pain killers. Finally on the mend. After taking my blood they gave me some shots of opium for the pain! So the next few photos show how happy I was and high on life! 

They take blood very differently in Laos...after injecting into your hand they don't extract the blood the way we do...instead then sort of tip your hand and let the blood pour from the inserted injection into a jar. The only thing stopping the blood flow was the nurses thumb holding my vien. Until she accidentally let go. Their crisp white sheets weren't so white..

I took this photo after the opium shot and it's safe to say it's not my best camera work! Everything was blurring and I couldn't focus...much like my camera. But the pain was gone! 

Whilst in Vientiane, we went to a great place called COPE. Well worth a visit. It is a rehabilitation centre for those affected by the bombings in Laos during the Vietnam war. Laos is much neglected when people think of the war - but they are in fact the most bombed country in the whole. People are still dying from unexploded bombs across Laos - around 100 affected every year. It's incredible that this is still happening, but great that COPE exists to help people. Below are some photos from the exhibition with donations of hand made limbs that the effected people made for themselves. Laos people use the metal from the bombs to make tools, dishes, fences etc - because there are that many! I even bought a ring that was fashioned out of bomb metal. 

Alas - it was time to say goodbye! We will hopefully be meeting again for a meal in Vietnam if our timing works out right. Ruth and Stu headed to Hanoi on a 24 hour hellish bus journey, I headed south to Savannakhet on a 10 hour hellish bus journey!

Savannakhet - My guest house in Savannahket looked ok from the outside, but wasn't great on the inside...wifi was rubbish which was ashame because there wasn't much else to do in this town! 

The best thing about my Guest House was this little guy...the cutest little dog wearing a tutu. This town was full of stray dogs but this was the only one that seemed to be an actual pet...it was very friendly and loved cuddles! I wasn't keen on walking into the busier parts of town mainly because of the dogs! Packs of 6 or 7 strays would run up to you and bark and growl...I think maybe I smelt differently because they never barked at the locals! Was pretty scared of getting bitten so tried to avoid them without much success! 

So I had to spend a four days in this town. This was not in my plans! I was stopping here to break up my journey to Vietnam and to have a wee rest whilst waiting for my visa which usually takes two days. I stupidly arrived on the weekend though, and had to wait four days instead. Then there was only one bus to Vietnam a day and that left at 9am. I couldn't pick my visa up until the afternoon so had to wait another day. Super excited to leave and eager to get to Vietnam, I headed to the bus station. Only to find that the bus had broken...so I had to wait another day. 

The one great day I had here was when venturing into rural Laos....these are always my favourite days! I met a Canadian girl called JD at the guest house, who had just fallen off her moped and was looking for a driver! So I hopped back on the bike (trying to ignore JDs cut leg!) and with a passenger now on the back, we headed on a three hour drive to a Monkey Forrest. The journey was stunning, the scenery beautiful and we saw rural Laos at its best. People were working in the fields and cattle were roaming the roads...roads that were full of pot holes (aka mini craters), making the journey fairly slow at times! We got a bit lost on the way back, so in total I was driving for a good 7+ hours....not what I was hoping for on a moped in 37 degree heat! But a great day in all. Here are some photos of the day: 

Stunning rural Laos (photos really don't do it justice):

Back on the bike:

The monkey Forrest...got a few selfies! Goats included...

A little trip into the Forrest...

On our way back from the Forrest, we stopped off to stock up on water, and ended up enjoying a meal with a local family of doctors by a lake. They wouldn't take any money, and gave us free bottles of water, as well as snacks for our way home! So generous...and we also got to try some really unusual local foods! 

Below is a lotus flower. And it is DELICIOUS! You peel it, then take out the seeds, peel them and eat the inside bit! It had a sort of nutty taste and I ate so many....

As you can see...

Finally on the bus from Savannakhet to Hue...get me to Vietnam!