Disclaimer.: Apologies, we are very behind on blog writing! South east Asia is very hectic and we are having too much fun!

After being scared by the horror stories of the 24 hour coach journey from Vientiane to Hanoi, we decided to give it a miss and booked a flight to the capital. After arriving on a very green plane from Laos airways we were first shocked by the size of airport and as we cruised into the city, the sheer mass of traffic. Greater Hanoi has approximately 5 million scooters for a population of 8 million.

On our first afternoon, we spent time looking around the old French quarter and the lake. We were able to find an amazing Vietnamese pancake shop. After enjoying the local food we had a fun night trying to get use to the organised chaos of the city and the noise.

The following day we visited Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. An huge building paying homage to the founder of the Vietnamese communist party. His body is embalmed inside but after hearing queues can take up to 3 hours we have it a miss. The guards outside the mausoleum have special training to only blink a few times a minute. We also visited Hanoi prison which was originally built by French. This gave us the opportunity to explore the history of the prison used both by French to surpress vietnamese communists and by the communist government to keep American prisoners of war during the Vietnam war.

After a break for bun mi (baguette with beef and Vietnamese sauce) we headed to the temple of literature. This was our first confucianist temple of this trip. It was fantastic to see the different architecture. There was also a great deal of school children praying for good grades and exam success!

That evening we attended a water puppet show. This was a show which takes place on a pool of water with puppets floating on top of the water. This was a fascinating as it told the story of Vietnam, although we didn’t really have a clue what was going on in the plot of the show it was fascinating to watch. It was performed alongside fantastic music from a band.

We were picked up bright and early the next morning for our trip to halong bay! Halong bay is a collection of limestone islands situated 4 hours away from Hanoi. After arriving on our boat and enjoying our fabulous 4 course lunch we started our first activity. Kayaking through a cave to the beautiful lagoon inside. Will and I went right to the edge and were able to see two monkeys hiding in the trees. After being initially apprehensive about paddling in the same boat we realised we were a great team and were able to almost paddle in time!

The next activity we visited Titop island which had a beach and a 15 minute walk up to a look out point over the whole of halong bay. It was a spectacular view. That evening there was a cooking class of how to make our own Vietnamese spring rolls. Followed by an extravagant dinner, complete with a prawn tower.

One highlight of our journey so far was watching an stunning sunset over halong bay. Such a beautiful part of the world.

The next day we woke up at 6 am to take part in a Thai chi class and watch the sunrise. This was followed by breakfast. We then visited surprise cave. Named by the French because they were so surprised how big the cave was. Although we had a kind guide his knowledge was limited about the cave and proceeded to just point out various animal looking rocks in the cave. The most humorous being a ‘mans small part’.

After heading back to the boat for another fabulous lunch we then travelled back to the shore to get our bus back to Hanoi. Our leaving thoughts being Halong bay is a special part of the world but unfortunately far to many tourists there at one time, with not much conservation of the environment present. Which is such a shame!

The next day in Hanoi we visited the floating temple. Legend has it the temple was built to commemorate the turtle of the lake. Who lent the king of Vietnam a sword to defeat his enemies. There are in fact only 3 turtles left in lake, but they have been unable to find each other as the lake is too big. The temple itself is another confunctionlist building only accessible by a red bridge. It is a beautiful and somewhat quiet point away from the chaos of Hanoi. That afternoon we also educated ourselves at the vietnamese women’s museum where we learnt about the expectations and customs from being a women growing up in Vietnam.

We also stopped on train street that afternoon for a coffee. The street is probably the closest you can get to a moving train without trespassing or killing yourself. However, this has encouraged several coffee shops to set up to attract the selfie taking visitors of this extraordinary street. It is a fantastic place to sit for an hour or two to escape the crazy motorbikes.

Overall , Will and I loved Hanoi, in fact it might well be our favourite city in South East Asia due to it’s colonial buildings, bustling streets and lovely people.

The next day we hopped on a bus to Sapa. A place known for it’s rice fields, trekking and spectacular views. We had booked onto a 2 day 1 night trek with a company called sapa sisters. Our guide was located from one of the minority tribes. We were taken inbetween the rice fields up several very steep hills and into lovely local villages. For lunch we selected to eat at our guides house are were served up a delicious platter of vietnamese food while entertaining her children. We continued our walk into the hot afternoon and eventually ended up at our homestay for the night with a spectacular view. After being served a scrumptious dinner we headed to bed with aching legs.

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The following day we trekked through a bamboo forest and past several waterfalls. Wills highlight of the day was me putting my foot in a rather damp rice paddy field. After finishing our trek we got an extremely bumpy motorbike ride back to Sapa town. The town itself is built up from the sheer amount of tourists visiting at the weekend. This is because on a Saturday night the town is famous for the love market. Where traditionally minority tribes came to perform to find their future spouses. However, it has now become famous across Vietnam for being a centrepiece and performances from signing to dancing by locals are entertaining to watch.

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Overall, the north of Vietnam we found to be a highly entertaining place with lots to see friendly people and absolutely stunning views. Next stop Phong Nha known for having the largest cave in the world.

Laos is a country that not many people know many things about. Indeed, it’s a country that few have heard of and one that seemingly has very little international reputation. This level of obscurity meant that we were very excited to see what it had to offer and we couldn’t wait to dive into the unknown.

The first stop was Luang Prabang, perhaps the most famous place in all of Laos (though i will forgive you for not having heard of it). The city in a Unesco World Heritage site and has served as the capital of the country numerous times, with countless kingdoms laying claim to the ‘Jewel of the Mekong’ over the years. Arriving of a slightly scary propellar plane flight from Chiang Mai we checked in to the hostel and went to have a look around. However, this quick look turned put to take much longer than we originally thought after we got stuck in the most almighty storm we had ever seen; rain hammered down, winds gushed down the streets, and the elecctricity in the city kept going off and plunged us into darkness. We managed to wait amd it finally died down enough for us to feast on warer buffallo at a local restaurant.

The next day we went with a few friends to the Kuang Sri waterfalls nearby. The falls are stunning, beautifully clear and an almost luminous blue. We took a hike up to the summit of the biggest one and were met with a wonderful view and once we got down dived into the pools underneath the falls to coold down from the 40 degree heat. That night we went around the local night market and grabbed dinner at a fantastic all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet for the equivalence of £1.50. The day after was spent leisurely exploring the quiter parts of the city and hiking up a very large hill in the center for a wonderful view of the surrounding area before heading for a bit of indulgence at a superb pizza place.

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From Luang Prabang we headed north, into the foothills of the himalayas amd to the town of Nong Khiaw. The jourmey was short, no more than 60 miles, however the absolutely terrible nature of the roads meant that it took 4 hours, and even tthat was woth the bus driver going like a maniac. We had heard a lot about Nong Khiaw and the stunning natural beauty ot possessed; its safe to say we weren’t dissapointed. Built along the banks of the Ou river (a tributary of the mighty Mekong), the town is spread over two sides and is connected by a bridge. Towering all around were huge towers of karst limestone that meant whenever you were walking about you constantly had your neck craned upwards. Granted the town was small and the activities limited, however we ended up extending our stay by a day just to soak in the beauty of it all and to make the most of the lovely bungalows we stayed in. Accommodation options were limited in Nong Khiaw so we had to pick the highest rated place available that turned out to be a lovely bungalow resort on the north side of the river, it was called Nong Khiaw Riverside and for £20 a night for a bungalow for two was stunning. One of the days we stayed in the town we did the Viewpoint hike to see what we had heard was the most beautiful sight in Laos. Well, I have seen a fare amount of views in my 21 years but boy, it was incredible, the way the clouds coated the cliffs was pure magic.

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After having some nice down time in the north we went south to Vang Vieng, the party capital of Laos. Vang Vieng is worth a Google, it has become infamous throughout SE Asia for tubing. This is essentially where a local gets a big tractor inner tube, inflates it, a party-mad foreigner comes along rents it for the day and floats down the river for the day visiting all 30 bars selling buckets of Lao Lao local whisky for £1. Sound unsafe? That’s because it is. In 2011, 27 foreign backpackers died either from drunk drowning or the stunts that they used to drunkenly attempt at these bars, including one Aussie who diver head first of a tree into water barely ankle height. In 2012 a big Australian broadcaster did a 60 minutes on it and thus led to the government cracking down hard; all the bars were closed and even 7 years later there are only 3 allowed to operate. This notoriety meant we were reluctant about Vang Vieng and felt overwhelmed when we arrived of a 10 hour journey from a sleepy mountain town to a throbbing party centre. This was perhaps not helped by our decision to stay in Nana’s, the biggest party hostel in town. Indeed, for me, the best part of Vang Vieng is what outside of Vang Vieng. By this I mean the beautifully stunning scenery, that just reaffirmed our belief that Laos is perhaps the most visually impressive country we had ever visited. Not liking the grimy town very much we tried to do activities outside in the beautiful countryside, these included rock climbing and going to the blue lagoon 3. Both were great as the rock climbing was outside of the gorgeous limestone cliffs, and the lagoon was a beautifully chilled area to hang out at with fun swings and zipwires. Having heard a lot about the town and all good, I think Vang Vieng has to be one of the first places I was actually dissapointed by. Don’t get me wrong, we had a great time, but it was just like Magaluf brought to the east, and was summed up by big bulky guys walking down the streets promoting bars and clubs with emblazoned tank tops stating ‘Tubing Never Dies, Vang Vieng forever’.

We left Vang Vieng after 4 nights, a long stay for how we felt about the place, and headed to Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars. Phonsavan as a city is nothing special, a nice Italian restaurant and a cool cafe called Cranky-T’s (lovely place if you ever happen to find yourself in Phonsavan, although I don’t know how that situation would arise). However, it’s what is outside the town that counts. The Plain of Jars are Neolithic burial grounds that number over 90 sites with thousands of stone jars about 3 metres heigh. Approximately 3,000 years old, the rival stone henge, and during the Secret War the Americans conducted against Laos in the 1970s, they were the site of some of the most intense bombing anywhere in the world. Amy has done a touching social media post on this but I will sum it up as best as I can. From 1964 -1973, Laos had a plane load on bombs dropped on it every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for 9 years straight. Laos alone had more bombs dropped on it than the whole of both the allied and axis forces dropped on Europe in WWII. Laos is by far, the most bombed place anywhere on Earth. To say the country has been through hell and back is an understatement. The prelude as to why the country was bombed is all on Wikipedia under the Secret War and is too long to go into here but I strongly recommend to read up about it for it is a criminally overlooked piece of 21st century history. Walking around the these thousands year old sites seeing bomb craters everywhere was a truly humbling experience. Also, in Phonsavan itself is the MAG (Mine Advisory Group) museum that illustrated the true cost of the bombings today. Due to the type of ammunition dropped on Laos being cluster bombs, a big bomb that splits open to release thousands of little bombs, they estimate there is over 8 million live bombs left in the country. Thus means communities can’t build schools on new land due to fear of being blown up, they can’t expand there farms, they can’t build new roads, the spiral of poverty is exacerbated. The work MAG does in clearing these bombs is vital, they save lives and build a future, and I also strongly urge you to look them up.

Anyway, back to more cheery topics, after our time in Phonsavan we went to Vientiane, the capital, via sleeping bus. I’m normally a deep sleeper and I can sleep through a lot, but a 5ft 8in single bed that was designated to both me and Amy to sleep in for the night on this bus, was too much. I got a solid 20 minutes the whole night with highlights including going round the windiest roads, spilling half my toothpaste on me, and even being asked to move to the bottom bunk to sleep with a family of 3 at one point because a Laotian man wanted to sleep in my spot instead (no chance mate).

After the journey from hell we arrived in Vientiane. We had been warned by practically everyone that Laos Capital city had nothing to see, and whilst partially true, we enjoyed the city. Sitting in nice French cafes, sipping lattes, watching the Mekong and visiting lovely Buddhist temples isn’t exactly a chore after all. For 3 days it was a perfectly lovely place to relax and wind down. It is in and of itself a very laid back city, very few people, small in size, and with few traffic jams clogging it up, it doesn’t feel like a capital city. But the again Laos doesn’t feel like your normal country. About the size of the UK, it has no motorways, no pulsating metropolises, and no scrum of people bustling everywhere, it is, in short, the perfect antidote to SE Asia itself, being in it, but not really a part of it. Whilst there were parts of it we struggled with, and maybe 2 weeks was too long, Laos was an experience we will both never forget and a truly alien place to anywhere we have ever been before. And after all that’s what travelling is all about really isn’t it.

Will

After a rather long ferry and bus combination from koh Tao we arrived in Bangkok at 1am to a relatively quiet street and arrived at our hostel Nappark, just off the famous Khao San road. We had an nice relaxing sleep excited to explore the city the next day.

The next day we purchased a hop on hop off Tuk Tuk ticket which was able to take us around all the various attractions. We started by visiting What Pho home of the reclinging Budda. The scale of the Budda is clearly something to witness, with beautiful pearl encrusted feet. We also explored the other temples on a complex home to hundreds of different budda’s. It was a lovely place to explore and escape some of the heat of the midday sun. We then boarded a ferry (for the stagering cost of 4 baht, about 10p) to cross the chao phraya to What Arun a stunning complex only accesabile by water. The rest of the day was spent exploring the main tourist attractions by visiting the Flower Market and Chinatown. The city was made all the more exciting by using tuk tuks to explore.

That evening we ventured to Khao San Road, a street like no other, the booming sound systems, the myriad of touts, and the pure amount of drunken tourists, make it a place like no other.

We had booked a sleeper train to Chiang Mai the next day. We headed to Chatuchak the weekend market. Which is unlike other markets we had seen full of fakes and soviners this was different. The worlds biggest market full of colour, pleasant smells and crowd. With lots of individual streetwear designers and shoes galore. I had to get Will to stop me from spending my money for the next 3 months all in one go. Will bought a jazzy shirts while I tried to navigate us round. The market was definately a special place selling everything and anything, apparently sometimes there are stalls which sell kittens and puppies, unfortunatly there were none when we were there. However, if you are ever in bangkok at the weekend I would strongly recommend the Chatuchak Market.

That evening we headed for our train, which we had booked second class seats, despite expecting the train to be full there was only about 6 of us in our carriage (however this did fill up with various people joiming at different stops). We were sat opposite a pair of dutch guys as it was eurovision that night we had great pleasure in telling them they had won the next morning. The jorney in total took about 14 hours to travel just over 250 miles, this is due to the very slow thai railway system. Over the night we were made comfortable with our seats folding down into beds and we woke up to some lovely rural thai landscapes.

After arriving in chiang mai and checked into our hostel, we walked round the sleepy city. Chiang meaning elephant therefore chiang mai (elephant city). I much prefered chaing mai to crazy Bangkok with a more colonal feel with queint little cafes and an abundent of places offering tours and activities. We were also able to see so many beautiful temples while staying here. We decided to sign up to a thai cooking class the next day. That evening we also ventured to another market, chiang mai ‘s Sunday market. This was also a fabulous market as every store contained a different handcrafted treasures.

The next day we had our half day cookery course. We were picked up early in the morning and taken to a local market where we were shown the ingrediants that went into the dishes we were making. Including fresh curry paste, sweet basil and fresh chillies. We were then taken to the farm the base of our course where we walked around picking, smelling and tasting the incrediants we used cooking. On our course, we learnt how to make one stir fry dish, on soup and one curry. Will and I both selected Pad Thai and Tom Yum soup with me selecting green curry and Will selecting massaman curry. We also learnt how to make fresh spring rolls. It was such a fantastic time and a great way to show us how to make these fantastic dishes quick and taste so good.

The next day was a day at the maerim elephant sanctuary, this was fantastic as we were able to interact with 7 beautiful elephants who had been recuded from horrible working and living conditions. We were able to feed them lots of bananas, go chop down a banana tree for them to eat. Walk with them down to the river. We then played in the mud with these beautiful creatures which also decended into a mud fight. Finally we were able to go in the water with the elephants by trying to clean and splash them. It was so lovely to see the elephants in an environment which they so clearly love. It is also heartbreaking to see that the elephants still in captativity are still there as there are tourists in south east asia, that will pay to ride them or see them at the circus.

Our next stop was Pai. We were unsure what to expect as we had heard it was hippy central. After a journey with a total of 762 turns from Chiang mai to Pai (I managed to knock myself out with some tablets called dimin bought for 5 baht). However once arrived we realised that it was a very relaxed and chill place. Our hostel the Hummingbird, was located in town and was a small walk away from beer street. Indeed, on our first night we had formed a solid group with people from Canada, Gemany, USA, France, England who we headed for an improptue bar crawl with led by our English hostel owner.

Not feeling to well the next day (will especially) with a changover (chang is the cheapest beer in thailand) we decided to delay our sightseeing tour and went and relaxed by a lovely pool called fluid. That evening we headed to Pai Canyon with our group of friends, the canyon is marketed as Thailands great canyon it didn’t quiet live up to its name. However, it was a beautiful place to watch the sun set.

The next day we did our delayed tour of the area surrounding Pai. We visited the beautiful White budda situated high on a hill it can be seen from town. We also visited an ancient chinese village located just 5 km outside of laos. It has a beautiful lookout on the top overlooking pai. The village itself is catered to tourists with a village green feel in the middle. A fake castle and a weird contraption will insisted we went on. Four people were sat on the seats and were roatated in different directions. It was a wonderful way to see all that pai had to offer. However, meeting such a lively and diverse group really made it a highlight of our trip.

After being converted to loving hippie central we headed back to chiang mai exited to see what Laos had in store

We would first like to apologise for the delay in posting,we have been mega busy and have been slacking a lot!

As our time in Malaysia came to an end we looked northwards to the most spoken about, most documented, and most touristy country in SE Asia, Thailand. As we boarded the ferry at Langkawi for the short hop to Koh Lipe we knew not what to expect from the little speck in the Andaman Sea nor the country it belonged to. However, once we arrived with a few spits of rain coming down, we still couldn’t believe the beauty of the white sand beaches and the quaint nature of the one street island. Indeed, on Koh Lipe you can start the day off on sunrise beach wqtching the sun emerge, then have a relaxing day reading a book and swimming before heading through the solitary street on the island to get a lovely dinner befote arriving at sunset to see the sun finally go down. The beauty of Koh Lipe was vastly apparent even just from the day we spent there, however it was more just like a stop over before really going north into the main Thai Andaman Islands, but in hind sight we do perhaps wish we spent some more time there.

The next morning we woke up and went down to the beach to board the ferry to Koh Lanta. Whilst we ate our toasties on the sand we saw a few gorgeous speed boats arrive ashore, little did we know that our ride had landed. We knew the transfer was slightly more expensive than other ferries we had taken but I had just assumed it was the distance and did not think of the fact that we had booked what was essentially our own 4 engined speedboat. Never in my life have I felt more like James Bond than bombing it at 90mph through the Thai islands on a speedboat!

Thailand has about 1,430 islands with the vast majority of them and most of the famous ones being on the west side of the Malay peninsular, places like Phuket, Koh Phi Phi and Krabi. Koh Lanta is one of the largest however one of the quieter ones, so thus fitted us perfectly for a few days relaxing on the beach. Indeed Koh Lanta turned ojt to probably be our favourite, cedtainly on the west coast. We stayed on Phra Ae (Long Beach) and were in this lovely bungalow just a minjte from the beach itself. Lined with cute restaurants and cafes as well as a few cool bars, the beach was perfect, more rugged than Koh Lipe’s but just as gorgeous. Sunsets there were incredible and illuminated the sky as we overlooked the tourist hoards of Koh Phi Phi, its fair to say we felt quite smug! The final day in Koh Lanta we did a trip of the island after finally peeling ourselves away from the beach. We managed to see the vast contrst between the rocky south and the flat north, as well as the old town, with its houses on stilts perching in the sea.

Sadly our time in Koh Lanta had come to a close however and we headed to the tourist mecca of Ao Nang. Its fair to say that when we first arrived in the town we werent impressed. McDonalds, Starbucks, and millions of touts all reminded us of how blissfully peaceful Koh Lanta had been, but we were determined to not judge the place on a first glance. The first day we were there we hopped aboard a longtail boat and got a lift to Railay beach, one of the poster boys of Thai tourism, however the natural beauty of the area could not be mistaken. Towering karst cliffs stood guard over the cowering beach as the boats ferried people on to the sand, as we slapped the sunscreen on I sat there admiring the pure marvel of the place almost forgetting about the sheer amount of people surrounding us. In fact we liked Railay so much we decided to repeat the visit again the next day and the morning rains had scared most of the hoardes away so we were gifted with a relatively quite and relaxed beach. This was until a tropical storm moved in and we needed to essentially evacuate in to the long tail boat before becoming stuck there overnight! On the final day in Ao Nang we boarded a tour to Koh Hong and the islands surrounding it. Although the area is a National Park, the amount of boat loads of people we saw would fool anyone into thinking it was a city beach. Despite this, a similarly to Railay, the natural beauty of the area couldnt be disputed, it was stunning, and our guides did a relatively good job in getting us around before the main hoardes arrived.

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The next day our time on the west coast and the Andaman Sea had come to a close so we headed to the full moon island of Koh Phangan. A joint bus and boat ride took us a miserable 10 hours however as we arrived at the nice little backpacker resort we had booked in to we felt a bit more relaxed. Koh Phangan is the party capital of the world for a night every time the moon reches it maximum size and 30,000 people arrive en masse to Haad Rin beach. However, the Koh Phangan we saw was very different, as wehn the masses leave after a night of debauchery, the island chills out and gets on with its meandering day to day life. The first day we were there we managed to take a tour round the island and expereince the beautiful amount of quite, hidden beaches that are essentially ignored. The second day, we simply relaxed and did a bit of admin work by the pool. Not a bad life sometimes.

Koh Phangan was nice but it didnt really blow us away, which is why, when we took the ferry to Koh Tao after deciding to sign up for our PADI certification course, we were thrilled to be back to doing something. Koh Tao is a stunning island, a lovely small size, bliss beaches, and a fascinating topography were the backdrop to some of the best 4 days ever. The first day we met with our instructors, Luke and Fiona, and then with our classmates and completed the theory. Boring though it was, putting our mind to something for the first time in months was actually quite a nice feeling. The second day was the pool training day, learning all the basic skills in order to equip us for what to do in case of emergencies at the ocean bed. The third and fourth day were the actual dives and we managed to hit the max depth of 18m with ease and discover the beauty surrounding the island. We can now safely say we are PADI open water divers and a massive thank you to Luke and Fiona and Crystal dive. What a way to end our time on the islands.

After leaving Kuala Lumpar we headed for Penang by bus! Penang is known as the food capital of Malaysia. Although the city wasn’t quiet as modern as Kuala Lumpar it had more charm as it contained cute colourful colonial buildings in Chinatown and Little India. We were staying in The Frame Hostel located in China Town. When we arrived and dumped our bags and went for an explore of the city!

I felt that Penang had the culture that Kuala Lumpar was missing, with an vibrant street art scene, with some fantastic paintings, obviously with streams of tourists posing by them. It also contained various different shops selling unique items and coffee shops specialising in juices and milkshakes. It also has a famous (chan) Chinese Jetty where families with the same surname have lived for hundreds of years on stilts above the water. The fascinating thing was they would run businesses from the front and in the back was the home where all their family would live!

That evening we headed to China Town for dinner as they had fabulous street food! Indeed, the system was so organised that we would go to the stand tell them where we were sitting and they would bring it over and collect the payments! As I was sat down saving the table this meant various people coming over requesting money from me and places wonderful delicious food in front of me! Indeed a whole meal would set you back about 4 ringet which is less than a pound! Will was also lot happier as the Beer was a lot cheaper here than in Kuala Lumpar about half the price!

The next day we ventured into the stifling heat to again explore the city. We visited several shops, temples and even little India. As Penang used to be under colonial rule it had various colonial traditions. One of these was an authentic British afternoon tea. Being the culture beaver that I am and also craving a good cup of tea we decided to try it out and treat ourselves to the nicest hotel in town The Western Orient Hotel. The tea was amazing a lovely brew of English Breakfast. There was lovely selection of finger sandwiches, my favourite truffle egg mayonnaise. The scones were served with strawberry and pineapple jam. Also several different mini cakes. That evening we again ventured to Chinatown for dinner and also to Love Lane filled with various bars which is where the night life is in the city. For several Beers which were reasonably priced.

The next day we journeyed to Langkawi by Ferry. Langkawi is a duty free island with beautiful white sand beaches. We managed to meet a great couple end went on a road trip to the 7 wells and waterfall, which after a lot of stairs gave a beautiful views of the mountains and Rainforrest. We also went for a swim down in the waterfall and slides down some rocks into a cool pool! We also went to a fabulous beach with aqua clean water and views of the mountains nearby.

As it was a duty free island, this meant that beer and chocolate were tax free! You could buy a big beer for the equivalent of 3 ringet about 60 pence, Will was very happy! On our final day, we also did a trip round the island to see different beaches and that evening we witnessed the most amazing sunset over the island. Before we headed for Thailand!

We caught a bus from Singapore to Kuala Lumpar the capital of Malaysia. It was an interesting trip taking four hours with us twice having to get off the bus, first to leave Singapore and then to enter Malaysia. The curious thing was there was a bridge in the middle and it’s not clear which country the land with floating houses belonged to.

We arrived in Kuala Lumpar the capital of Malaysia, to stifling heat and the familiar smell of petrol lingering in the air. We checked into our hostel ‘Backhome’ which provided us with free tea and coffee! With proper tea bags (although they were liptons). Then we headed out to explore the city. One of the most iconic places in KL is there art gallery. As they were hosting an special exhibit with a model of the city they had various illusions and sculptures of the city, with an interactive light show talking about Kuala Lumpur growing potential. We also ventured to the cafe where there speciality was a durian cake. Durian if you don’t already know is a very smelly cheese tasting fruit. Will and I decided not to try that cake as one spoonful of Durian ice cream in Singapore had been enough! That evening we ventured to Jalan Alor a popular tourist spot for ‘street food’ and bars. The food was yummy however the beer was expensive as it is heavily taxed in the Muslim country, Will wasn’t happy!

One thing that struck me about Kuala Lumpar was it’s vast mixture of architecture, with colonial buildings, traditional Chinese and Indian shop houses, alongside incredibly tall skyscrapers. It is a developing city trying to fling itself into the 21st century.

On our second day in the city we went on an hop on hop off bus tour of the city. Although it wasn’t the best bus tour I have ever been on. It was a good way to see all the sights including the petronas twin towers, The National Palace and Little India. We hopped off to escape the mid-day heat by venturing into the shopping malls. KL has recently been voted the fourth best place to shop in the world. With endless malls and shops, we even found a theme park inside one of them (the second largest indoor theme park in Asia apparently). That evening we ventured into China Town, with various stalls full of copy’s of high end brands and lots of sovaniers. We ventured again for some street food to fill our rumbling belly’s.

On our final day we woke up early to grab a Taxi to Batu caves, situated just outside of town the caves are decorated outside with four rainbow staircases and a ginormous gold Budda statue. It is also home to a lot of mischievous monkeys. After posing for several photos and walking around the cave we headed back into town and to the KL tower.

From the top of the tower you get a 360 view of the city and they even have several sky boxes in which you can pose for photographs. Although I was a bit apprehensive about this due to my rational fear of heights I walked on to the sea through floor with no issues. Will on the other hand felt uneasy and disliked the all glass container. I still forced him to pose for the photographs though!

We headed for lunch at the Petronas Towers, not their fancy resturant at the top but the food court in the mall below. After walking round hundreds of shops that we couldn’t afford in our wildest dreams we headed back to change for the evening.

In the evening we went to the ‘Helilounge’ a rooftop bar in the middle of the business district situated on a helipad. It was very nice to be sipping on a cocktail while surrounded by all these incredible sky scrapers. We witnessed a live drone show, advertising the new avengers film, with the drones taking the forms of several different shields of marvel Characters. With the perfect view of the Petronas towers it was the best way to finish off Kuala Lumpar.

After our time in Bali had come to an end we jetted off to the modern bright lights of Singapore. After an early rise and a 9am flight we arrived in the city state ready to see the sights. The smooth ride on the city’s outstanding subway system carried us straight into the heart of Chinatown and after a quick stop by the hostel we found ourselves in the heart of the city staring up at the beautiful Marina Bay Sands Resort. The rest of the day passed by in a haze of excruciating heat and gorgeous architecture. Once we got back that night we went down the road to the Maxwell Hawker center to see if we could get some cheap food for dinner (in the world’s most expensive city) and low and behold we bumped into Tian tian Chicken and Rice, a little stand who’s chef recently beat Gordon Ramsey.

The day after a lovely introduction to Singapore we visited the stunning Gardens by the Bay and their Greenhouses. With our headsets equipped we went into the myriad of gardens and learnt about every type of plant there was. After a fascinating morning we took the MRT along in the air con to Orchard, the shopping district of Singapore. The bliss of the posh malls helped us overcome the heat of the city and window shop our way through Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton. Via Little India we came back and shot off to the Raffles Long Bar for some Singapore Slings that was legitimately the nicest alcoholic beverage I have ever had.

The next day we indulged in some world class entertainment at Universal Studios Singapore. Despite having only a few big rides we had a great day and for someone who started off the day hating Rollercoasters I was officially converted.

On our final day we woke early and went across the road deep into the heart of Chinatown where we joined a walking tour. The guide was brilliant and took us through the changing demographics of Singapore and the culture that sprouted up in the neighborhoods we passed. After getting another delicious meal at a brilliant hawker stand we went to the Masjid Sultan Mosque, a building straight from the pages of Arabian Nights, and the onwards to the Clarke Quay pier for a river cruise. The cruise was quite relaxing and gave a new perspective on the Marina Bay hub. After having a few nice drinks on next to the river afterwards we went back to Chinatown and got lost in the MRT station. When we finally made it out we emerged it was like we had ascended into a food heaven. We grabbed a table and feasted on a massive grilled fish, with rice, pak choi , and a Chinese beer. A perfect end to a perfect time in Singapore.

Canggu had been a fantastic first base in Bali and after 5 days we decided to set off to the culutural capital of the island , Ubud, with the aid of a personal driver whom we hired for the day. I Wayan was his name and after a nice breakfast of bananaflour pancakes and waffles we said goodbye to the coast and drove inland to the temples of central Bali. The first stop on the day was the most popular temple in Bali, Tanah Lot, that is perched on a rock just out to sea. The immense amount of crowds even on a mid week morning meant we didnt stay for a long time but the raw beauty of the place was undeniable. After Tanah Lot we drove up into the Tengallalang Rice Paddies near the town of Ubud itself, and the intital wow factor of the stacked fields was stunning, all I can say is I Wayan is a very lucky man to be able to see such a beautiful site every day. The day then zoomed by, Tirta Empul a water twmple allowed us to get our sarongs on and see local hindu customs, the Cat-Poo-Chino coffee plantation meant that we got to try the worlds more precious coffee, Kopi Luwak (if you don’t know what it is, I would strongly advise a Google), and then Goa Gajah allowed us to see the ornately carved Elephant cave temple.

After the action packed day on our arrival into the Ubud area, I had a very rough night, the llcal food was taking a toll on my atomach, so the next day whirled by with a pleseant trip to the Monkey forest to see some cute but surprisingly vicious local primates and then a quiet night next to the rice paddies in our lovely hostel.

Feeling better after a more relaxing day, we booked ourselves onto the local white water rafting trip and were transported to the Agung River nearby all ready for us to set off into the rapids. After Amy successfully navigated the whole group down into the gorge agter the guides went missing for a while, we hopped into the raft and set sail. One thing I can say is that it might have not been the most gnarly river into the wrold but the guides did a great job at getting everyone to have a good time, making fake crocodile attacks and splashings a regular occurence.

The next day our brilliant hostel owner offered us an unmissable opportunity to go on a tour of the lesser explored East of Bali. We set off early and after an hours drive reached oir first location of Goa Lawah, the Bat Cave. A beautiful Hindu temple set into a cave filled with bats makes for a pretty interesting amd thrilling start to the day as one can imagine and even more so when he told us that the cave stems directly from the fearsome Mt Agung, the 3000m Volcano that dominates Bali and which in fact erupted a couple of days before. Next up was the Water Palace, a beautiful temple built in the 1800s by the local king as his private residence and so aptly uses the glistening man made ponds to make the stone carvongs even more impressive. A very instagrammable place indeed. Finally, to top of a brilliant day we were taken to the Virgin Beach, a gleaming white stretch of sand sandwiched between jungle coayed cloffs and opal coloured clear water. Paradise.

Our time in Bali was coming to a close and in order to make a truly unforgettable last day we set our alarms for 1am, were picked up by the Balinese Lewis Hamilton, and driven to Mt Batur, another active volcano just across from Mt Agung. We set off on a hike to the summit in order to see the sun rise over the stunning landscape, and as our tourches pierced through the darkness we knew, despite the pain in our calves and the sleepiness in our eyes, such a sight would be worth it. Once we got to the top, our instant regret was not to bring a jumper, and as the sun rose, our second regret was seemingly turning into not checking the weather forecast as we were enveloped in a thick cloud. Howevee, soon the clou shifted and we were blessed with a view to rival anywhere, the largest lake in Bali clung to the sides of the volcanos and the loacl villages below started to turn on their lights in preparation for a new day. It was awesome and a perfect end to our time in a wonderful island.

After catching a late night flight to Denpasar from Cairns and waiting for an hour and half in the queue for immigration we were finally through the doors to the departure lounge at around 1.30am local time (3.30am). We had organised our transfer to our guest house before so were greeted by our names on a whiteboard and were ascorted through the crowds of locals asking if we wanted a taxi. After hoping into the car and driving through the streets we realised that this was very different to Australia! With 15 motorbikes for every car weaving all around you, honking their horns to let people know that they were there. At around 3am we finally stumbled into bed tired from travelling but also excited about what the next day in Bali would bring.

Canggu is part of Bali, famous for it’s surfing and laid back vibe, with lots of hip shops and fantastic eateries. On our first day we went for a fantastic breakfast at a cafe called beetlejuice. Will got very excited when he saw the prices on the menu and ordered himself a coffee, juice and large breakfast burrito. After getting our head around the currency 50,000RP is equivilant to just over £5. We headed down to the Batu Balong beach to see what all the fuss was about.

It was evident from the sheer size of the waves why this was such a special place for surfers with waves getting up to around 5 meters at least everyday. The sand was a mixture of yellow and black due to Bali being a volcanic island. There is also various beach clubs dotted along the beach which all offered surf lessons, board hire and even beverages for you to enjoy while watching the waves. We then journeyed to another cafe for lunch in which we indulged in dragon fruit smoothy bowls, making us both feel very healthy indeed. When we ventured into Canggu at night it had a new face again, with many vibrant bars, resturants and events going on. It truely is a magical place.

To be honest, the next two days we spent very lazilat the same beach club, visiting breakfast cafes (Life Crate being our absolute Fav). Indeed, most of the day consisted of me sipping on juice and Will on his Bingtang, (an indonesian beer) On our third day there we finally plucked up the courage to book ourselves onto a surf lesson. I had surfed a couple of times in cornwall and france before and with Will new love of surfing after trying it in New Zeland we embarked on a two hour lesson with an instructor. After practicing getting up on the sand on land we then entered the sea to try and see if we could stand up there and most importantly who was the best out of the two of us.

One thing I can say about surfing at Batu Balong beach is that it is truly exhusting. As you had to first battle through the strong waves in various depths. When I first attempted to get to Will who had gone first and paddled out, I got completely caught in a wave break above me and got completely wipped out. Paddling out was also exhusting as one minute our instructor would be there the next he would be 10 meters away, I’ll tell you now these instructors are fit. After failing completely on the first wave I caught, the second wave was much more promising with me being able to stand up. Will also managed to stand up for a couple of waves. It was like I had muscle memory and my body was remembering how to surf even on these big waves. Will however  was not so lucky and in his own words “regressed” and apeared to be catapolting himself forward in more of a dive movement than a standing up motion (it made good viewing). After a two fantastic exhausting hours we had managed to ride a few waves and most importantly, I was definetly the best.

That evening we visited a bar called Deus, it was very cool and indie. On a Tuesday they had an event called Tacos and Tattuus. Every Tuesday all people had to do was purchase a Taco platter and a Bingtang totaling around £6 and they would be eligible for a free 20 minute tattoo, by some incredible indonesian tattoo artists. It was pretty crazy to be sat having cocktails watching people get tattooed. In case your wondering Dad I didn’t get one don’t worry!

The next day we paid a visit to Kuta purely to visit WaterBom ‘Asia’s no 1 waterpark’. Although Will was not keen on the idea as he didn’t feel it was cultural enough. I was estatic! My parents take us to a waterpark every year on our family holidays as it guarantees a kid free day where they can get rid of us. After trying a few of the big tube slides to begin with including bomarang where you went down a very steep slope and up the other side. We went to try a type of slide which I have not done before the Trap door. I decided to go first. The most alarming part is when the door closes and you a trapped in a very small chamber with a voice going 3,– 2, — , when it gets to 1, I felt a little more relaxed as I know there is nothing that I can do. Then you drop, theres nothing that quiet compares to that adrenline rush or the fact that you know you are okay and still all limbs attached. After visiting every ride in the park and bomarang a total of 6 times we headed back to canggu. After visiting Kuta we were very glad not to be staying there, it can only be described as the magaluf of Bali.

Overall, we had such a fabulous few days in Canggu such a great place to get ourselves acustomed with Asia. We the next day travelled to Ubud with a very scenic tour planned on the way!

After having checked out Cairns for a few days and gone chasing waterfalls we deckded to move on to the more relaxed town of Port Douglas just up the coast. Whilst looking around for ways to get up there we hit upon a the method of booking a Great Barrier reef tour which had a bus up to the town included. On the evening of the Tuesday we were all set to be whisked up Northern Queensland, to be taken out to sea, and then to dive in to the only living structure on Earth that can be seen from space.

Indeed, we woke up that Wednesday morning bright and early and then got on the Port Douglas bus with a lovely guide called Cory who managed to interest us with facts about Sugar Cane all the way up the coast. Once at the marina we hopped on the the boat AquaQuest and signed the myriad of safety documents. After we had done that and gone through a few talks and instructions the two of us were allocated into the final group to dive which meant we were able to get into the water and snorkle a bit first. We managed to get in to our full lycra stinger suits, to protect us against any jellyfish, and then we were in to the world of the Great barrier reef. The vast array of marine life was what wowed us first, there must have been millions of different fish alone not to mention the other sea creatures. It was simply another world, just unlike anything I had ever seen. The coral itself was slightly damaged from the cyclone that had come through the area a week before still but came in all shapes and sizes.

Once our 40mins snorkelling flew by we were called back to dive. The two of us were helped into our gear and told to faceplant of the boat into the sea. The 3 important tests we had to pass kncluded getting water in our goggles and losing our regulator’s but they flew by and before we knew it we were off under water. The reef looked even more magical from underneath, like a dream. However, my heavy breathing at first had cost me and as we got out I had used over double what Amy had.

After a lovely lunch we were taken to a second dive sight and once again opened up to the pure majesty of the reef with a much smoother second dive and a rather close sighting of a Black Tip Reef Shark. Im sure my love affair with diving will not have ended with this short trip as it was incredible.

The next few days in Port Douglas flew by relaxing on tropical beaches and the next time we went out was on one of Tony’s Tropical Tours into the Daintree rainfirest and to Cape Tribulation. The tour was fantastic with our German guide Jens being the most knowledgable man ever on the flora and fauna on display in the area. Fantastic rainforest walks, an awesome bbq lunch, and an interesting crocodile bkat tour made the day one to remember. The wildlife count at the end was one Cassowary, one Saltwater Crocodile, six Rainforest Huntsman Spiders, three Golden Orb Spiders, one Lace Monitor Lizard, three Swamp Wallabies, and countless others. Indeed, a time in Port Douglas well spent.