Hello, hello!

Its been a while… and I’m not going to lie, its been nice to escape everything for a while!

After the craziness of Vietnam, we needed chill, familiarity and beaches- so Lombok was the place! After flying to Bali first, arguing about taxi prices for a solid hour with numerous shouty men and finally getting through the manic streets of Kuta, we arrived for our one night stay in Bali- solely for partying. The clubs were pretty cool and it was good night, however I was relieved to leave the next morning for Lombok! We arrived and drove through the hilly villages to reach the other (and far nicer) Kuta on this island. Full of amazing eateries and cute little doggos, the high street was bustling with people which was a really good sign, especially as it’s a fairly new tourist destination and the earthquake giving the island a slight danger warning (south Lombok is fine and undamaged!!).

After settling in for a few days and drinking as much Bintang Radler and eating garlic butter corn as humanly possible on Selong Belanek beach, I finally felt at home. Most days we just woke up, drove to the beach (on the worlds most uncomfortable dirt bike) where Ted surfed and I read my book. It was perfect!

To finish of the week nicely, we decided to go to a nice resort for one night, with A I R C O N (compared to our homestay which was fan only and starting to smell a little funky). This £30 a night luxury hotel was just amazing. The food was amazing, it was surrounded in flowers and greenery, 2 pools and spa (we may or may not have had a aromatherapy massage…) and a cheeky happy hour to finish off the evening!

Unfortunately the next day we had to leave, but all was not lost as our friend from Pai, Thomas was coming out with his cousin Kasper to meet us for the week! When they arrived, we took them straight to nuggets corner (best restaurant for random cuisine and bbq) and caught up! For the next few days, the boys went out surfing and we made our way up to Tanjung Aan sunset point to watch the sunset with a Bintang- it was stunning!! I even finally plucked up the courage (after 2 months in SE Asia) to learn how to ride a moped! Much to my surprise, I got the hang of it pretty quickly and was zipping about in no time! (sorry mum..)

One of my favourite days was having a lay in (obviously) and heading out to Bumbang beach which is where Teds dad owns the most beautiful bit of land overlooking lobster bay. We stopped by at a beach resort there and has a quick Bintang before heading up to the land for sunset. Although the sunset wasn’t great because of the clouds, the views were so beautiful and the coastal roads leading up to it were equally as good.

However, one of my favourite nights of our Lombok stay was in ‘Surfers bar’. Full of Indonesian surfers and an insanely cute and greedy doggo Jimmy, we stumbled across this bar advertising its happy hour and we returned every night after! One evening, one of the staff got out a guitar and started singing. I joined in, although sat out the reggae ones (not my thing!). After jamming from 9pm. to 3am, we turned in for the night, with the promise that I would come back the next evening and sing for him at the acoustic night he throws at the bar every week, as a ‘special guest’. Due to this being a lot more in my comfort zone than the Vietnamese wedding disaster, (as I’m so used to singing with my brother with a guitar) I agreed and the next evening we performed infront of about 30ish people with no rehearsal, bar the jamming session the night before. I was pretty pleased with myself and had so much fun! (ps. check out ‘ragafullmoon’ out on Spotify- ‘summer holiday’ is a tune)

Lastly- the food. You’d be a fool to think that this wasn’t one of the main things on my mind most days, especially when there was so many places to choose from. The main peeve of western tourists is the lack of western cuisine or too much western cuisine. However, this place was a literal dreamland. Steak sandwich? Head to ‘Milk’. Best chicken satay in Lombok? Rudy’s. THE BEST chicken parmigiana ever ever ever??? Kenza. Best nasi goreng? Head to the boys on the beach. Not to forget ‘the Mexican In town’ which do the best burritos ever (you can even upsize If you’re a hungry hombre…). Anyway, as you can gather, the food is great, Bintang is even better, and if thats not enough- theres a bloomin crepe stall too! hEaVeN

Highlight

When admiring the views up at sunset point, we noticed a tiny puppy trying to climb the huge hill we’d just done. Bless him, he was such a little sausage roll, and after herding him and reassuring him, we picked him up and gave him cuddles- he was so soft!!

Another dog related highlight was meeting a little stray white dog outside a bar. Whilst everyone else played beerpong, I decided to buy some corned beef packets and feed them to this poor skinny dog. The look of happiness on his face when he ate it convinced me to feed him all 3 packets and then feed him water out of my hand after he eventually trusted me. After seeing the happiness on this dogs face, I bought a few more and if any dog was on its own and looked sad or skinny, I’d feed them a pack just to make their day a bit better. Every little helps!!

Thank you for reading and I hope everyone at home is well!

Ps, please follow ‘ilovesouthlombok’ on instagram and spread awareness for the beauty that is held in this amazing island. If you’re thinking of heading anywhere near there- bypass touristy Bali and head straight there- you’ll thank me later 😉

Over n out xxx

Thanks for joining again!

So after a 4 hour sunburn induced journey down beautiful roads, we arrived in Hoi an. We checked into a cute little homestay and went for a little explore down at the beach. We spent the next day down there for the whole day, it was so nice to just relax for a bit and to try to even out my sunburn! My favourite part was the fact that the beach sellers sold prawn crackers, I was one happy girl!

We went for dinner in a place which Michael Bourdain said you have to go to before you die, it did an amazing bahn mi (baguette filled with random veg and meat and sauce) which cost us £1.50 for 2 and 2 drinks! The next day we were a bit thrown as our homestay owner invited us to his sisters wedding.. without knowing the protocol, dress code or even the brides name, we turned up in a venue with over 200 guests and ate a huge 9 course meal (with free beer!). Midway being stuck into my prawns, I got asked to sing. After not performing or even singing in front of anyone for about 2 years, this was pretty daunting but at least the people didn’t know me! Shakily wailed out a bit of Adele and sat down again. We then left, napped and got bhan mi for dinner.. perfect!

Our last day consisted of going into the ancient town and exploring. The canals were beautiful, the ancient ladies selling bananas were adorable and the atmosphere was amazing. Hoi an was such a beautiful place.

To catch our flight to Ho Chi Minh the next day, we went to Danang for the day to have a look around. What a mistake. Not only did the sun not shine all day, the hotel had bed bugs and there were no food places near us. After moping and watching way too many episodes of Glee to make up for the crappy day we were having, we rewarded ourselves with an amazing curry which was so needed. Ugh it was amazing.

We landed in Ho Chi Minh and drove through the madness of the city to get to a friends house we’d be staying at. We were greeted by 2 amazing dogs which gave me a good feeling about the place! After chilling in their pool for the day, we then went out with our friends son for a burrito (so cultured) and for a few drinks. We then got up the next day to explore the war museum in the city. Wow. The photos were just a snippet of the brutality and horror that happened through the Vietnam war. It was a really eye opening experience.

The last day of Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam altogether consisted of visiting the cu chi tunnels by moped. After going on a terrifying 2 hour journey through the madness of the city, we arrived at the tunnels used as part of the guerilla tactics in the Vietnam war. These tunnels weren’t made bigger for tourists like others so it was pretty untouched, with trap doors and even the kitchen still there after all of these years. It was absolutely fascinating. We then had a 2 hour journey home in torrential monsoon rain with a flat tyre which was so horrendous even talking about it gives me shivers!

But we’re alive, and well (just) and heading to lombok for a nice relax now- thank god!

Vietnam, what an incredible, stunning place.

Sorry it’s been a while, Vietnam was a bit hectic!

We left Cat Ba and arrived back in Hanoi late evening. After figuring out we couldn’t get a sleeper bus or train to our next stop, Phonng Nha, until the next evening was very frustrating. The day of waiting for our bus consisted of naps, YouTube and a whole lot of snacks!

We finally got on the bus and let’s just say, I’m never ever going through that again! Fortunately we managed to shotgun the back seats which had 3 connected recliner seats so it was basically a sticky, sweaty, cockroach infested double bed for the night! To top it all off, we arrived in phong kna at 4.30am! Fortunately the hostel we stayed at found us a room asap and we got some sleep.

Phong nha was beautiful, there were caves which were amazing and a springs that had been turned into a climbing forest and kayaking area (but the water was bloody freezing!!). We just chilled in the hostel that night as they offered free beer, free shots and a pool table- what more could you want eh??!

We then stupidly decided to take another sleeper bus the next day to get to Hue (ayyy!) which only took 4 hours opposed to 9 previously. It was even grimmer and stinkier but we got there in the end to pick up our motorbike for the Hai Van Pass. I’m not a petrol head but I’ve got to say, the bike we chose was pretty cool, with a lil princess seat on the back for me!

We started the journey from hue to the start of the Hai Van pass which took about an hour but had beautiful beach scenery. The next part of the journey was the winding roads of the pass. Wow. It was stunning, I can’t even describe how beautiful it was driving up the cliffs and seeing the sea below.

We then finished it and headed through Danang to get to Hoi An where we thought we’d only stay for one day…

More to come in a separate blog post,

Hope you’re doing well whoever is reading this,

Lots of lurve x

We started our Vietnamese journey in Hanoi. Reading that it was fairly hectic, I’ve never heard such an understatement in my life! Bikes zoom everywhere, they don’t care who’s there- they will even aim for you! We wandered for 10 minutes and ran into a pretty unpleasant street con artist, but it’s better to get it out of the way so were more on guard for the rest of the trip.

The second day we decided to explore more. We found a cute little cafe covered in post it notes with lovely messages on from fellow travellers and visitors. I tried my first bhan mi (very good) and had freshly squeezed orange juice which is sooooo good out here. We went to a little temple on the lake and then wandered round the west lake/expat area which was stunning and a lot less hectic.

We then met a friend for a drink and stayed in a nice hotel for the night.. it was the first time I’d slept on a mattress with SPRINGS and soft pillows in about 4 weeks which was heaven! Because we are thoroughly sick of Asian food, we got taken for dinner at an amazing burger restaurant and had a pulled pork burger which actually resembled and tasted like pork (unlike some of the street food..). We even had dessert- it was a good night.

Unfortunately our bliss of the soft bed got cut short when we left for Cat Ba at 8am the next morning. Ha long bay is always a ‘must’ in north vietnam, famous for its movie appearances and beautiful rock formations. However, as what happens to most beautiful places- it’s ruined by tourism. Instead, cat ba was another hour out, but was more of a fishing village, with private access to Ha long bay, Lan ha bay and beautiful caves. We did a tour which took us kyaking through the caves (I was very good for my first time!) we snorkelled and jumped of the boat by the rocks and trekked up a mountain on monkey island (the monkeys were slightly less terrifying than the ones in KL). It was such an amazing day!

We also visited a floating seafood restaurant for dinner which we had to get a boat to get to and had a view of the beautiful bays. In Cat ba, there is also a huge hidden cave in the mountains called ‘hospital cave’. It was used by the Vietnamese in the war to treat soldiers, hide supplies and have secret meetings. This cave had 70 rooms and hidden rooms for leaders to rest in safety. It was completely surreal!!

My favourite thing about cat ba was the amazing sunset. We paid £6 instead of £5.50 for a room with a sea view and it was well worth it. The sunset was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, the sky was swirling in pink, white and blue and the sun was setting over the little fishing boats and the bay. We just sat by the window staring for an hour!

Highlight

When we were on the boat, the tour guide started playing the titanic song. However, what we didn’t expect was him to start singing ‘my heart will go on’ at the top of his lungs to us all on the boat. It was so cute but also slightly funny.. I had to keep slapping ted to stop him from laughing too much!

The little town we thought was going to be a 2 day stop has turned into 10 days of sheer bliss.

When you arrive, everyone tells you you’re never going to leave, and you brush it off because you have a schedule and places to go.. and as the days go on you slowly start to realise that even 10 days isn’t enough to have the full pai experience.

We stayed at a hostel called circus, with fireshows every night, beer pong, pool, the most amazing hammocks and quite possibly the best sunsets I have ever seen. There hasn’t been one day where I haven’t watched the sunset over pai with a new amalgamation of colours lighting up over the mountains.

There’s almost too much to mention but one of the highlights was biking to a waterfall on which we could swim in and jump off (I left that part to ted). Then we popped to a hot springs which had an 80degree pool which you could buy eggs and cook them in!! There was also another waterfall which we went to which had natural slides all the way down which was beautiful.

Speaking of sliding, we decided to get involved with the hostel activity- tubing! 47 of us from the hostel decided it would be fun to hop in a rubber ring and go down quite possibly the dirtiest and fastest river for an hour, whilst playing music, drinking beer and panicking about getting stuck on the rocks. I got dragged under a ton of reeds and then when I tried to get out I fell down a rapids, which I had to fight my way against which wasn’t pleasant in the slightest but the atmosphere was crazy and it was the best day we’ve had here.

The food is also incredible, the place 3 steps opposite the hostel does the best pad Thai for 50 bhat (£1.20??) and the place up the road does amazing pancakes for even less (the man who runs it also gave me tons of natural remedies for my tonsillitis- I love the Thai people). There’s a walking market at night with crazy food, burritos, fried Nutella and banana sandwiches, gyozas, literally anything you want. It’s way too easy to spend a fortune there though!!

And finally the people.. the first day we met Chris who laid out on the hammocks with us and just started chatting, we were then joined by Thomas, a ginger Dutch guy of whom we’ve spent every day with since and 2 more guys from jersey- Tom and Adam. We had a tight lil group going and then we met Gabbie, Jodi and joe. We met Gabbie and Jodi at the elephant sanctuary and all of a sudden they turned up a few days into our stay in pai so the group was extended! Were so lucky to have met the most incredible people here. And the doggos. The doggos were cool too.

Pai really is the best place in Thailand and I could lounge there in a hammock there for the rest of my life and I’d never get bored 🙂

Highlight

Being a girl is tough when wanting to take part in ‘manly’ games such as beer pong etc because some guys automatically assume you can’t throw a ball, into a cup, because we don’t live breathe and drink beer. So it took everyone by surprise when I pretty much single handedly (sorry ted) smashed 7 cups out in 10 minutes whilst on my death bed tehehehehe.

To add to it, there was a bar in town which had a boxing machine. I rarely get on my feminist high horse but when a guy was mouthing off about his mates punching like a ‘girl’ and various other slurs, and then he punched 1500, I decided to respond with a punch of 7500, turned round to him and asked him if it was a girly enough punch for him 🙂 revenge is sweet 🙂

We got back from kanchanaburi at 7 and by 8 we were on a bus to Bangkok. Leaving at 8 and arriving at 7am the next morning we were expecting a hideous journey. We couldn’t have been more wrong!

Don’t get me wrong, 11 hours on a coach is not my idea of fun, but we met people from colchester and had beds and snacks so it was pretty decent!

The day we arrived we went for a wander and then slept more because it was a tiring journey. We then found the food market from the time I was here before and had such a good pad Thai and ted had kebab (so cultured).

The next day we rented a brand new Mazda 2 to drive round Chiang Mai. We went to Grand Canyon water park which had zip lining and a huge inflatable total wipeout type of set up, I spent more time in the water than on the inflatables!!

We then went to sticky waterfalls an hour north where ted scaled down the limestone rocks with a mouldy rope while I stood, in a storm in snake territory with a bag on my head. It was fun but not my finest moment!

We headed back and danced away at Zoe’s to cheesy songs so that was more my scene…

But the highlight- probably so far of the trip was elephants.

We went to an elephant sanctuary full of rescue elephants from the Myanmar border, circus and logging trade. There was an ex circus girl elephant who was trained to dance for food at the circus, but she still does it now which was so cute. She also liked ted… a little too much! My favourite was the little baby boy elephant, he was so so diddy and cute!!! We fed them, gave them a mud bath and then washed them in the river, which very quickly turned into a water fight..

Ted managed to actually spoon an elephant and he rolled over for us. They loved it so much and it was one of the best days so far. It was truly beautiful- they are the best animals ever.

After a very snap decision to leave Pha-ngan and the islands, we found ourselves on a plane to Bangkok.

After the disaster my trip to Bangkok was last time (food poisoning, overwhelming smells and crappy weather), I wasn’t holding out much hope for this time round.

We stayed in khoasan road because apparently that’s where all the backpackers go. We weren’t interested In seeing all the temples, palaces and wandering the smelly streets again, so we just did what we do best- sleep.

Practically living like wombats for 2 days, we woke up, ate, slept, ate, slept, walked for half an hour then slept. It was great 🙂

It was also teds first time staying in a hostel, which was very interesting. We met some really cool Dutch guys on both nights and sat on the roof playing cards (I didn’t win this time) in the attempt to avoid the creepy old Gollum lookalike we were sleeping next to, who just got creepier and creepier the more we saw him. It was safe to say we made ourselves pretty scarce!

And that’s about it for Bangkok. Still smells. Still has crappy weather, however this time there was no food poisoning, so you know- every cloud.

However, whilst we were there we made a little detour to Kanchanaburi. This is a historical town which was Home to thousands of prisoners of war including Dutch, British, Burmese etc. During WW2 the POW lived in the concentration camps which was the now museum we visited to learn more about it.

The most interesting part was seeing the bridge over the river Kwai, built by the POW for transportation of goods accords the borders instead of using the sea as they were blocked off. The bridge got bombed in the middle, however that bit has now been rebuilt and we took the train across it which was incredible. On one side was a huge drop where the cliffs were and the other was the river.

We then ate lunch on a barge on the river and then went to a beautiful waterfall in a national park which ted climbed up (and got soaked).

Highlight

Pretty weird experience but I was sat in the national park waiting for ted to finish being a mountain goat and a Thai girl came up to me and asked for a selfie. She either thought I was some sort of celebrity (my bets are on shrek) or being ginger is a really bizarre thing here, either way it was pretty cool!

We finished off last blog on a high note, scuba was amazing, life was sorted. Until I discovered on the boat on the way home that my nose piercing wasn’t there anymore. Baffled, I thought it must’ve just fallen out because of the pressure of the water. But I then discovered the bar on the inside of my nostril curled up and wouldn’t come out.

Being in a lot of pain with a huge red bump on my nose, I decided the only way of getting it removed, from the advice of pharmacists was to go to the hospital. Terrified it was going to be a repeat of dreaded KL hospital, where no one spoke English and looked at me weirdly for screaming in pain, I considered chopping my nose off myself to save the hassle..

The silver lining of being in a skanky party town on Koh Phangan was that there were THREE hospitals within walking distance, all of which had staff who were either English or spoke fluently. However, when explaining how I got this ridiculous injury, unfortunately they understood me and laughed at how ridiculous it was (I joined in too..)

Long story short- turns out my stud was firmly embedded in my nose under a huge lump. A swift shot of local anaesthetic in my nose and a very very hard yank and I was all good! Had a huge bandage thing stuck up my nose for a day and a plaster so big I looked like the phantom of the opera.. so it’s safe to say I was not going to make friends at the party hostel on the first night.

The next day we decided to rent a car to drive round the island. £20 for a day in a cool bright mustard Suzuki jimmy 4×4- it was set to be a good one. However, after only getting 2 minutes up the road, the car broke down which was just perfect. We then swapped it for a bigger Suzuki 4×4 which actually had windows, aircon, no mosquito infestation, a jazzy Thai pop/country CD and pedals which didn’t sound like cats being strangled, so we were pretty satisfied.

Anyone who says Koh Phangan is just for partying is very wrong. The island is beautiful, despite its tiny tiny size. There were 360 beach bars with a view over Ko Ma which is an uninhabited tiny island that you can reach via a sand walkway in-between the two bays which was pretty amazing. The beaches featured swings, untouched beaches and lagoons with crystal clear water. Coconut trees and palm trees were scattered everywhere, giving a jungle vibe among all the beaches. Probably one of my favourite days yet.

We then went to a floating bar in the evening and finished it with the nicest chicken kebab ever. So British.

Next day we just chilled, skipped the half moon party and just played cards. Who would’ve thought we were teenagers!!

Anyways, I’m now sat on the boat heading back to Koh Samui to catch a flight to Bangkok.

Koh phangan, you were a very special island. My favourite one so far.

Byeeee! X

Ps I promise il stop injuring myself soon xx

After we left paradise, we hopped on the TINIEST plane with propellers instead of engines which freaked me a bit. Only a 40 minute journey though so it wasn’t all bad. Even got a meal!

Arrived in Koh Samui and headed to Bophut which is a little seaside town. We stayed in fisherman’s village which had night markets, too many suit shops (who wears them in this weather???) and overpriced food. Realising it’s a very touristy town, we stepped foot into a nice irish type pub and had hummus and ribs for dinner- so cultured.

Spent the next two days just dithering about, walking around the town and sunbathing. Followed by dinner, rotees and a beer on the beach, a good movie then passing out on probably the most uncomfortable bed that has ever existed.

The day we were due to leave samui, we went scuba diving. It was my first ever scuba experience and I was absolutely terrified. Not only do I not like not being able to breathe properly, I don’t really like the sea and what’s in it. Our instructor was an angel and was so so helpful and I did two dives round Sail Rock. Saw a puffer fish, tuna, groupers, swarms of barracudas and trigger fish- which I got away from very very quickly!

It was so so beautiful and I’m really looking forward to doing it again soon. It was truly an amazing experience. Thanks ted for making me do it, I see your point now.. (he totally didn’t make me say that)

Til next time my loves xx

Highlight

Made ted watch a new chick flick on Netflix and he actually enjoyed it and wasn’t even pretending!!!!

12 days in and it’s getting better by the minute!

Flew to Phuket from KL and finally arrived after a cramped, slightly terrifying mini bus ride to our little hotel next to Patong beach.

The hotel was lovely, rooftop pool, big comfy bed, balcony and gym for £7 a night, must say I was pretty chuffed with my booking.com skills.

Caught up with my parents on FaceTime and then ted caught up with his. We mentioned we were in Phuket, of which Graham replied ‘I’ve got a mate that has a villa there I think’. We then got told to search ‘the Aquila villa’ as that would be our new accommodation for the next 2 nights.

Oh

My

God.

If the 30 staff, waterfall, private beachfront and 30 METRE infinity pool wasn’t enough, we booked our d r i v e r who would pick us up in the morning to take us to paradise.

We arrived, met the head of staff, Deaw (shoutout- you were amazing) and went on a room tour. Anyone who knows me well will know I’m a pretty ‘extra’ person. So when I saw that this place had 4 lounges, complete with library, pool table and ping pong table I felt like I was right at home.

I would love to tell you how much stuff we did in the day like my usual blogs, but apart from swimming, sunbathing, winning at cards and napping- that was pretty much it. Sometimes you need to just switch off and wind down from the crazy big cities and endless walking. And I think this was the perfect place to do it.

There was a chef there too who cooked us whatever food we wanted- naturally a steak sandwich was the top of my list and let’s just say, we were not disappointed. (I’m so hungry right now I can’t talk about food anymore)

Everything was just amazing. The views, the company, the relaxation, the people. Everything was perfect and well timed after knee-gate and teds endless list of injuries.

I’m having such an incredible time, lots of positive vibes and smiles right now!

Don’t worry, I’m going to be a peasant again soon so you guys believe I’m ‘travelling’ instead of having a very long holiday… 😉

Lotsa love xxx

Highlight

I’ve always had a desire to open up automatic blinds with a remote to look out on a view from my bed. I know it sounds pretty specific but as I wanted to be a ham slicer in tescos, I guess this isn’t too specific for me.

Anyways, waking up on the first morning, I couldn’t work out how to open the curtains. Looked around for help, and there I saw it. A remote. Pressed the button and voila, it started opening onto the most beautiful view over the sea and the trees. I can’t stop smiling thinking about it.