The land that time forgot

On Sunday (a week last Sunday now) we went to see Kuang Si waterfall. It had such good reviews so we were really looking forward to it. Luckily the weather was good as well. We were picked up at 9 o'clock and drove the 45 minutes there with the couple who we met at the pub when we were watching the football. Strangely on the way up to the falls, included in the ticket price, is a bear sanctuary where an organisation has rescued a number of bears from abuse and circuses etc.

We continued up to the top of the falls, stopping at each tier along the way. We had heard that if you continued past the 'top' tier and followed a footpath through the trees you could reach a 'hidden pool'. To be honest it's pretty common knowledge now to anyone who does research about the waterfall on trip advisor but it was still worth it. We carried on through the trees, then got to a fence with 'danger' signs on and a piece of towel wrapped around the barbed wire so you could climb through. We had already met people on the way down telling us the way but you still feel a slight thrill of risk from going through. True enough we arrived at a tier of the waterfall looking down above all the rest. It was stunning.

After splashing around for awhile we headed back down. When we arrived there were only a few other groups dotted around in each pool. We left, had lunch, came back in and there were people everywhere. Huge groups of Chinese tourists, locals jumping in still dressed in there clothes. It was madness. So glad we came early.

The plan originally was to get a bus after being at the waterfalls to Cambodia, but after checking out the prices and doing some research we decided to book a flight. The options were, get a 10 hour bus to Vientiane then another bus to Phnom Penh. The price in total would be just over £100 and it would take atleast 30+ hours with a most likely needed stop over for a night somewhere a long the way. The other option was a flight for £125 that took 1hour30mins. It wasn't a hard choice to make in the end. The only down side was there were only flights on Sunday (which we missed) or Tuesday and they were to Siem Reap, so we booked another 2 nights in Luang Prabang and did some more exploring.

The flight was nice and easy. We set off on time and arrived early. We also had a free pick up included from the hotel we booked so we had a tuktuk ready and waiting at the airport for us. They're so much more comfy in Cambodia.

We spent the first day visiting the local markets and wandering around a million restaurants looking for a cheap one. We were surprised that all the shops and restaurants in the centre sell everything in dollars!! Like it wasn't hard enough! The next day we were going to visit the holy city of Angkor which holds some of the most famous temples in the world. To see certain areas we needed long bottoms to cover our knees and as much as we wanted to avoid looking like tourists, there really weren't many options. I tried my hardest to persuade Alex to let me get some more expensive 'normal' looking trousers but she was having none of it so in the end I got a $3 pair.

We'd hoped on getting the 3 day pass for the temples so that we could spread them out, but again the prices swayed us... $20 for one day or $40 for 2 or 3 each with a $15 a day tuktuk charge. As much as we had have liked to have seen more we just couldn't afford it along with everything else we want to do in Cambodia, so we went for the small tour in one day. It turned out to be quite good actually. We went at half 5 in the morning hoping to get some nice pics of the sunrise but unfortunately it was too cloudy, but we got a good start ahead of the crowds anyway.

About an hour or so in we were getting in the tuktuk to go to another temple when I heard a huge rip! I looked down and all of the seam from my bum to the front had torn open! I couldn't believe it! I hated the pants as it was and now I had to buy another pair! (You can guess who got it in the neck about buying cheap stuff)

All of the temples were impressive, but especially Ta Prohm where nature had completely taken over. Some scenes from Tomb Raider were filmed here and you understand why. The trees were huge! It honestly didn't look real.

We had one more temple to do when it suddenly started chucking it down. Even with the umbrella within minutes we were both drenched so we decided to head back to the hotel. To be honest we were pretty lucky though as the weather had stayed dry but not too hot all morning and by this point we were absolutely shattered anyway.

The next day we took a 5 hour minibus to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. We stayed for 3 days and for us that was more than enough time. As much as we wanted to see and experience these bigger cities whilst being away, such as Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh, a few days is enough as after that it just becomes exhausting.

This blog post has taken a long time coming, but its purely because the internet has been absolutely terrible everywhere that we have been! Also there doesnt seem to be many pictures for everything we have done, but when we looked back they all get abit repetitive and you can't really tell one temple from the next.

On Sunday we caught the bus to a place called Mondulkiri, where we had booked to spend a day with the elephants at the Elephant Valley Project. It was such a good day, but more about that in the next post... can't guarantee when that will be though :/

:)

Laos in a week

We arrived late afternoon in Vientiane and unfortunately we hadn't had good enough internet anywhere for awhile to book our accommodation, so finding a restaurant with wifi was our first stop. We'd noticed when we made a stop on the journey here that the prices seemed a bit more expensive but we were hoping it was just because we were right at the border... turns out it wasn't. For some reason the accommodation was a lot more expensive as well. There are places within our budget but you seem to get a lot less for your money compared to Vietnam. Anyway, we found a backpackers hostel not too far from the centre that was as basic as they come, and booked it for just 2 nights. The next day we caught a local bus to the Buddha Park, which was quite interesting.

Whilst there we bumped into a couple we had met on the journey from Vietnam, so after chatting to them for awhile and getting an ice-cream we then caught the bus back. The rest of the day was just so hot, we couldn't bare staying out in it, so we decided to squeeze the next sight in the next morning before checking out.

There wasn't that much else to do in the area so we didn't want to waste any more time (or money) hanging around here. We were heading for Luang Prabang but decided to split the journey and spend a couple of days in Vang Vieng. The area is known for activities such as tubing down the river, rock climbing and quad biking but having seriously over spent last week and on the journey to Laos, we needed to spend as little as possible for a while, so just had a chilled couple of days. Although we did have another interesting night trying to get 2 cockroaches out of the room, though it wasn't funny when they started flying at us. The weather was good though and there were some nice walks around the area.

The bus to Luang Prabang took about 6 hours. We took the risk and went for a mini bus, but what a mistake that was. We were the last ones on so got the 2 back seats between 2 other people. There was no air con which we were told there would be and when we did ask one of the other guys to open his window wider for us, as it was roasting at the back of the bus, he simply shrugged and said it was too much on his neck... So frustrating! Also they were the bendiest roads we've been on so far, so it was like being on an old rickety roller coaster for the entire journey. Only plus side - we got to see some pretty amazing views, though I think I would happily of missed them to avoid being squished between a sweaty Sean and a large Chinese guy for 6 hours.

It was a nice relief when we got here. Again we'd had to spend a couple of pound more on accommodation but it was much better than the last 2 places. We got drinks and fruit when we arrived, the host gave us maps with all the sights on, and we had a balcony overlooking the main street. It was Thursday at this point and we needed to find a sports bar to watch the football. We thought it would be hard to find a place but turns out there were 2 bars near us and when we found it the place was packed with English and Welsh fans. It was good to see everyone uniting for the game. Turned out not the most fun night for Alex though.

The next day we explored the local sights. First on the list was Phu Si, which was a gold monument and temple at the top of a hill.

Next we strolled across to the palace museum though we probably should have planned the day better as we got there in the 2 hours of the day when it was shut. Oops.

Finally on the list was Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang's most well known Buddhist Temple. It was very impressive but as we always knew, once you've seen a few temples, you've pretty much seen them all. We actually didn't even pay for both of us to go in this one, as it just didn't seem worth it for the 10 minutes it takes to go around.

?

When seans alone with the camera.

2 minutes up the road from our hotel is where the night market starts, going all the way along the Main Street of town. Though we don't necessarily buy anything at the markets it's a really nice atmosphere just walking around, so we've been going there pretty much every night.

We had an early start the next day. Every morning, between 5 and 6, the monks in the area walk in procession around the streets and take offerings of food and gifts from the locals, known as the Alms giving ceremony. We managed to get a few pictures before we jumped back into bed for a couple of hours.

Today we had planned on going to Kuang Si waterfall with a couple we had met whilst we were watching the football, but when we got up it was absolutely pouring with rain and didn't look to be letting up, so we've rearranged for tomorrow.

This week seems to have flown. Between travelling, sight seeing, and having the poorest internet ever, we just haven't had chance to do the blog any sooner. It's nice experiencing another country, though from staying in Vietnam for so long it takes a bit of adjusting to again. We definitely appreciate how cheap it was compared to here but we're actually planning on moving on to Cambodia within the couple of days anyway which we're both looking forward to.

:)

Happy Birthday Sean!

We had heard Sapa was known for its incredible scenery and our hopes were up staying at the 'Stunning View Hotel', but luckily it didn't disappoint. After travelling for so long to get here and then having to wait 6 hours to check in, we couldn't wait to get to our rooms. Unfortunately the first room we got was on the side right next to a building site so a lot of the view was blocked and it was incredibly noisy. The hotel was full that night but they were happy to give us a different, much nicer room for the following 2 nights at the same price. We've found most hotels to be quite accommodating in this way, often we've been given much nicer rooms than we had originally booked or extra nights at discounted prices.

Breakfast with a view

After finding a huge cockroach crawling around our bags that night, then losing it, then finding a giant spider whilst looking for the cockroach, we couldn't wait to get to the other room.

The next day the weather was horrendous. It none stopped rained pretty much all day, making the visibility almost zero over the hillside, so our plans to do a trip were postponed for a day. It was Seans birthday the following day so we desperately wanted to do something, luckily the weather picked up so we booked one of the tours to see the amazing rice terraces that cover the hillsides and explore 3 of the local villages.
Quick side story - All throughout Sapa are these local village women and children who constantly start conversation asking your name, where you're from, and if you're shopping. They're very very persistent and often follow you as you walk to try to get you to buy something from them. It quickly becomes very annoying when they literally don't leave you alone and no longer than a minute after you leave one woman another will start the same dance again.
So you can imagine what we were thinking when we started our trip and a whole group of women started walking with us, asking our names and where we were from. We began the steep descent down the hillside and it turned out to be much more of a hike than we expected, and because of all the rain the ground was so incredibly slippy! A lot of the hillside is clay as well so when it was wet, it was impossible to get a grip on to. It turned out to be so funny as our irritation of being followed quickly changed to being so thankful these women were there! They must do these walks multiple times every day up and down the hillside from their village to the town, so not once did we see any of them slip, but as soon as they saw everybody in the group beginning to slide around in the mud they were so helpful and would quickly grab our hand to balance us and help us down. The majority of the group were girls our age and younger so you can imagine how much help was needed. Saying this, even Sean was like Bambi on ice as his shoes had zero grip. It turned out to be so funny just watching everyone sliding all over the place but it was such hard work. We stopped for lunch for an hour, at which point the women made their moves trying to sell their handmade crafts. During this time it started chucking it down making the next half even harder. How we didn't end up completely covered in sloppy mud was a miracle! Although Sean did end up with a nice splodge right on his bum and I almost lost my trainer at one point. The next part was through a bamboo forest and then a steep climb back up the hillside to the bus back to the hotel.

That evening we were about to go out for dinner when the receptionist at the hotel desk as us to sit down to talk about some of the trips. We thought it was quite stange but did so anyway. We had been talking for afew minutes when suddenly afew of the other hotel staff started singing happy birthday and brought out a whole birthday cake for Sean and even iced his date of birth on it! We were so surprised. They then insisted we all sat around together and had a piece. 

Right next to Sapa, is the highest point in Vietnam, Fansipan Mountain. We'd heard that you could do a 2 day trek up, or for the brave you could do it in one day. We weren't even considering it as it was too expensive for us both and I really didn't fancy it anyway but Sean loved the idea of doing it in a day so he decided to use some of his birthday money and go for it. 

Over to you Sean...

Thanks for that kind introduction there Alex. Hi there, Sean here speaking. So at 5 in the morning I was picked up from the hotel, legs still aching from yesterday's hike. After a short drive to the base of the mountain, 9 of us were ready to tackle it. At first it started off as a nice trek, walking through the woodlands and rivers with little climbs here and there which was a bit of fun but it was unfortunate that it was raining already. After 2 hours of this steady trek we hit the first camp where people stayed if there were doing the mountain in 3 days. We were all happy to carry on and things soon started to get harder. The inclines were a lot steeper and more frequent. This carried on for about an hour a a half until we got to the second camp where we stopped for food and a little breather. Blisters stared to appear on both feet at this point :/ We were all freezing from being wet through, especially one guy who only brought a vest along. Wall set off again and after an hour or so fatigue stated to kick in. Luckily some of the others started to feel it before hand so I didn't look like the one who we had to stop for. Blisters hurting, sweating when moving, freezing when stopped, shattered, raining still, slippery, everything just felt a million times harder. Eventually we made it to the top to find 300 plus steps which we had to climb. As we were walking up the people who caught the cable car up seemed to find it amusing seeing 9 tourists climbing the stairs wet through, dirty and struggling. When we got to the top we all got a picture with the plaque and collapsed to the floor for a rest. We then had a choice either take the cable car back down, which took 20 minutes and $30, or enjoy a lovely hike all the way back down. So me being as tight as I am decided to take the hike (plus I seem to love doing stupid things). Turns out only three of us took this option. It was a lot easier to get down than up but my legs just didn't have any energy left and my blisters had turned into small gashes on the side of my feet. I just cried to myself at the back thinking why didn't I just take the cable car. But all was not lost, eventually the end came into sight and we were awarded with medals! Oh how we felt like heroes! Heroes that could no longer move.

Food then bed.

Back to the studio Alex.

The next day we were saying goodbye to Vietnam and moving on to Vientiane, Laos. We had to get 2 buses, totalling around 24hours. Reviews online called it the journey from hell but we really didn't find it bad at all, probably one of the best we've had actually.

:)

Hué to Hanoi to Halong to Sapa

Our time in Vietnam has flown by and our visas are quickly running out making it abit of a rush to cram everything in, so we planned to stay just 2 nights in Hué. For the first evening we decided to just walk around and explore the local area. We prefer to do this when we arrive somewhere new, just to get our bearings and we were also on the hunt for a supermarket as we desperately needed more shampoo. Something so simple and yet so hard to find! We took a stroll across the river on the Truong Thien Bridge which was all lit up, and thankfully found the store with a couple of well known brands of shampoo. My hair is just crazy at the moment so I'm more than willing to shop around and spend a little more for a good brand.

The next day we visited the imperial city. Neither of us are big history buffs, so we really didn't know much about what we were looking at, but the gardens were pretty and there were some nice buildings. We've found that unless you pay for a guide, there really isn't much information available as you walk around. Probably the most part of the day was actually taken up walking around looking for an ATM, so by the time we finished we were shattered. Not to mention the temperatures were soaring, Alex spent the whole day walking with a parasol and I came up with a new style of hat to cover my face and neck.

We had planned on travelling up north after checking out, but my aunty and uncle coincidently were having a holiday in Hoi An, so it seemed crazy to not try meet up. We decided to meet half way in Danang, and just spend the day together at the beach. Me and Alex could then get the sleeping bus from there that evening, up to Halong Bay. It was so nice seeing them both, and we realised how much we missed just being able to have a proper conversation with people. Don't get us wrong, we have met some nice people here but there is always either the language barrier, or just the fact that you're never with people for very long before either they or us are moving on. Also we left our new shampoo on the beach! So gutted :(

The first part of the journey was 16hours on a sleeper bus up to Hanoi. From there we then had to get a lovely old local bus to Halong Bay. This should have taken just 3 hours but instead ending up taking about 4 after the bus broke down. Fun times. We got there eventually.

Surprisingly Halong Bay isn't very touristy, in terms of hotels and restaurants etc. Many of the trips people do to Halong bay set off from Hanoi, and generally people do a 'cruise' around the islands for a night or 2, therefore they sleep in the cabins. Apart from the boat tours there really isn't much else to do in Halong City. Our hotel arranged for a tour guide to come help us decide which trip to do. We desperately wanted to do a cruise for 2 nights but the prices were sooo expensive so we stuck with a day trip. We were picked up at around 7.30 and taken to the port where we then got on the boat to the first island, stopping at Heavens Cave. The amount of people crammed into this place was unbelievable. Boats were showing up every 5 minutes and the cave was just packed full.

These are just the amount of boats pulled up at the cave.

Back on the boat we had lunch and then made our next stop to do some kayaking around the edge of some of the islands.

                                

On our boat we had a group of Essex lads. It was quite cringe to watch as they all had their Calvin Klein boxers showing under their trunks and obviously had to have their tops off almost all day to show off their tattoos and muscles. They pretty much kept themselves to themselves until we were all climbing out of the kayaks and one of the lads started on an American guy who was with his wife and teenage son. It was embarrasing to watch but it got worse when it was the Americans turn to get out and he ended up falling in the water and literally couldn't get out. All 7 lads started laughing at him shouting 'thats what you get you mug'. If it hadn't been for the guys been total idiots it would have been funny, but to say this guy was overweight would be kind ,so you really couldn't help feel sorry for him as his swam around in the water waiting for someone with a ladder to come help him out.

Finally we stopped at a small beach where most people went swimming but we had a sleeper bus arranged to take us to Sapa that night so we didn't fancy being all wet and salty for the journey. Instead we headed up the mountain and got some amazing photos of the bay.

It's a shame about the current condition of Halong Bay as it isn't like the pictures you see on the internet any more. There are so many huge industrial barges and ships that dock in the port which we presume is why the water looks so polluted and has a lot of rubbish floating around. Saying all of this though, it was still impressive none the less, and very beautiful. We couldn't come to Vietnam without seeing the bay, and we're glad we did. Definitely something to tick of the bucket list.

That evening we got the sleeper bus, 9 hours to Sapa. This time we couldn't pick our usual bus company that we knew was pretty comfortable, and so just let our hotel arrange it for us. Unfortunately the journey wasn't as good. The berths weren't long enough to even stretch our legs out in, never mind having room for our bags as well. Also we were told we would get in to Sapa at around 8 in the morning which we thought wasn't a bad time. Turns out we arrived at half 5 in the morning. It's now almost 12 and we're still sat in the hotel lobby waiting to check in. It's been a very very long night.

We're still smiling though... Just.

:)