I started this quite late yesterday, but it then got reallyy late! So I thought I’d finish it today 🙂
Its just gone 12 here, and I’ve just walked across the street and got a pretty big Thai meal for just over a pound, pretty cool! I think one of my favourite things about Asia has been able to spend the night walking round street markets, buying the odd thing, and trying lots of really cheap food! I will definitely miss that part of being here
I’m in Bangkok now, having finished my Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia loop! I fly out on the 8th to Australia, where I’ll be in Melbourne for just under a week, and then New Zealand! 🙂
Overall Asia has been amazing, Vietnam was quite stressful and dragged me down a tad, but there were some great snippets of Vietnam that made it a lot better. I feel like the people who are out to scam you, or just follow you down the street, seem to ruin it for the amazingly nice and generous locals that you find! For instance after my day of motorbiking from Hoi An to Kon Tum, I arrived at half 11 at night, without a hostel booked, and not really knowing where they were in the town. I found a hotel, which looked closed up, so I rattled on the bars and I managed to get a room. It was pretty cheap, and it was the first single room I had had for a month and a half, which was really nice! The next day I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ride on, which would have been another long day, or get the bus to speed things up. The receptionist at the hotel was so so nice, she rang lots of people and managed to get me a bus to Dalat at 3pm that day. She then bought me breakfast, took me to an orphanage for a few hours, where I taught some English and played with the children, and then we went shopping at the local market! It ended up being really great! The town was also quite off the beaten track, I only saw one other traveller there who was at the orphanage, so that was a really good experience!
Hoi An was also brilliant! I drove the motorbike with a friend I met in Hue, (going over Hai Van Pass which was amazing), and arrived at around 6. We weren’t sure where the hostels were so I asked a tourist. After he recommended a place, he told me about a free tour they do on sunday mornings with a few locals who are looking to learn English. So I ended up going on that, and it was really good! We got bicycles and cycled round an island, stopping off at houses where we would learn how to make rice paper, or sleeping mats, it was really cool. Local students were there as well, so it was great fun talking to them!
So many hostel owners have been amazingly nice too! I think moments like those made Vietnam a lot better, and I think that’s what I’ll remember more…I hope! Although the motorbike stealing is still flipping annoying! I eventually got to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, where I had a stressful last day selling my motorbike, so I guess it rounded Vietnam off nicely! I managed to sell it at the last minute to a really nice American called Chuck, who’s writing a book! I was delighted and was able to move on without looking back too much!
I got the bus to Cambodia, for a quick stop in Siem Reap, where I went to the Angkor Wat temples. They were amazing! Just the size of everything was impressive, I have a few pictures so I will try and upload them…I can’t promise that will happen though! I met some great people in Siem Reap, even a friend from the safari park, which was really nice! I was soon back on the bus to Bangkok though, and arrived last night! It felt strange coming back, because of how much has changed since I was last here! I can’t believe it! It’ll be very strange leaving Asia, I feel like I’m really getting used to the culture, and to be honest it feels like I’ve been here a very long time! It has been really great, and one crazy experience! I feel I liked Thailand the most, possibly because I spent the longest there, and had the best experiences, so I may have to come back to do the rest properly! 🙂 Off I go to Australia now though, I’m quite nervous but really looking forward to it, especially the cold…and some western food will be nice!
TomToming Around 