Love, Trust, and a little bit of Wanderlust

When the Adults came to visit.

tigerlillytravels — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 22:00:00 GMT

Before we had took off back to the UK an old school friend of mine had posted online about needing a house/cat sitter for 3 weeks and she would like someone she knew to take advantage of the offer. She lives in Phuket, and the dates she needed lined up perfectly with our plan for South Thailand.

After our visit home my mum and her husband decided to visit us. Anyone who knows them knows they have only ever travelled long haul once and they hated it. To be fair to them, it was an horrific journey but it was the only one they had done so this was a big deal!! My mum hates travelling. But they decided to come, and we had a house and a car to make them more comfortable.

We arrived at the house in the early hours of the morning with a plan of dropping off my friend at the airport and collecting the grown ups in the same trip. That was obviously too simple. The flight from the UK was delayed so they missed their connecting flight in Doha, meaning they had to spend a night there before carrying on to us. It delayed them a total of 12 hours. On top of that our friend also had a delay, so we had got up at 4am for no reason!!

Once they finally arrived we took that night to settle in. Then we rolled into a fully packed week.

We headed into Patong and introduced them to some local cuisine. We took a stroll on the beach and watch the insane parasailing staff literally holding on to the parachute cables with no safety equipment. We saw the sights of walking street and had a few drinks people watching which was more than interesting.

The next day we headed to a National Park. When we arrived we paid a 200THB per person to enter. Inside the park was the Gibbon Rehabilitation centre. It's a small hut and a sort of viewing platform, where you can see the gibbons that are still in enclosures. Although you can see through the fences that aren't always easy to get a good view of. They have plenty of space and tons of greenery. There are information cards displaying details about each gibbon and their history. The little hut shop has a staff member or 2 that can give you the info on what they are trying to achieve and you can buy all sorts of merchandise or even adopt/sponsor a gibbon.

The park also had a couple of waterfalls so we headed for the nearest one. The walk was slippy and tight and obviously uphill. Some of the walk was a bit nerve wracking and we didn't realise that all of the park staff would be sprinting up this path at lunch time to dive and swim while taking their break. It was a hot and sticky walk and we had to stop a few times but it was pretty once we reached the top. You could edge into the water in the rock pools and relax in the cool stream, and if you were a bit of a daredevil you could climb the side of the waterfall and jump into the plunge pool below! We watched the locals doing this and often almost hitting the rocks, it was a bit terrifying. We spent a bit of time relaxing and cooling off, then headed back down for some lovely fresh fruit and drinks.

On the way back to the house we stopped off at the Bodhi dog shelter. This place was a lot smaller than I expected it to be, and only had 5 people there at the time. There were so many dogs. All ages, shapes and sizes, all in the same area. It was heartbreaking but so good to see them being looked after and cared for so well. By the time we were done our visitors were exhausted and it was getting late so we got takeaway Thai food and relaxed at home. Perfect.

Next was a day of drinking! As you do on holiday. We spent the day having a few cocktails and beers. We visited Hooters where the food and drinks where amazing! Then we headed off to a cabaret show. Simon Cabernet. We arrived to a proper theatre which wasn't expected. We headed to the bar for more lovely cocktails and then headed for our seats. The show was brilliant. All of the performers mime in each song but the set up is great and the costumes are out of this world! Some seem professional, others are comedy (that where really funny) and some novelty numbers. My favourite by far was the Disney version of Chicago's Jail House Tango featuring the villains. Cruela Devil, Ursula, Maleficent and the Evil Queen. It was so well choreographed and had all of the audience laughing along. Once we left our private transfer was waiting for us and we headed back to the bars.

We had expected the following day to be a complete write off so we had planned a beach day. We got a taxi to Laguna beach and settled on a huge beach bed lounger at Xana beach club. The pool was just behind us, sun loungers right in front of us and the sea lapping away in the distance. We spent all day lounging and drinking listening to brilliant chilled out music until about tea time when rain set in. Even then we refused to let go of the day, the lounger was covered so we could sit comfortably watching the rain. Perfect beach day!!

The last full day with our visitors was going to be a busy one. We had booked a boat trip to Phi Phi. We drove ourselves to the pier which was a complete nightmare! We got stuck in crazy traffic and ended up arriving at the pier 30mins after we had been told to arrive. Not that it mattered as it quickly became clear that we wouldn't be setting off anytime soon. First off we were added to the wrong tour group, then we were moved and were the only people at the tour office. Over the next 50 minutes the office filled up and we finally were given information on the days itinerary. We loaded onto the speed boat and headed off.

Through the day we stopped at some amazing sites. Our first two stops where to see the Viking caves, the famous beach at Maya Bay. As beautiful as Maya Bay is it's completely saturated with boats, fumes from engines and tons of people!

Next we pulled up at the beach in Phi Phi. Our boat guide (the owner of the company) pointed out all the main places and showed us where we could get lunch. There were around 30-40 people on our boat but he went out of his way to make sure we were seated and looked after. When we finished our food he even went and bought us ice creams!! Phi Phi island is world famous and anyone you speak to has pretty much been there, and although it was beautiful, it was massively overcrowded. The edge of the beaches were bumper to bumper with speed boats and long tails, the beach was crowded and the bars and restaurants were crazy busy.

From Phi Phi we visited Monkey Beach and watched the monkeys playing and chasing each other up and down the rock faces (the tide was in) then headed to another island called Koh Kaynock, where we got chairs on the beach and paddled in the sea. It was beautiful.

On the way back pretty much everyone fell asleep. I get terrible sea sickness if I don't take medication but that same motion that causes the sickness also sends me right off to sleep. By the time we arrived back at the pier we were shattered again. It had been such a long day, in the baking sun and napping. It's tiring enjoying yourself and being lazy. 😉 We all had quick showers ready to go back out, we couldn't stay in on their last night. We went to an area called Boat Avenue. It had been recommended for places to eat and it's Friday night market. It was Friday. We had amazing food at a bar around the corner the strolled around the stalls. There was everything. Food produce, cooked foods, ice cream, drinks, jewellery, makeup, clothes, bags, sunglasses, wooden carvings, a barber and nail artists!! We picked up a few souvenirs and finished our night off with another few drinks.

Our last day had rolled round so quickly I couldn't believe a week had passed. The flights home were tea time flights so we drove out to the Big Buddha. We didn't expect to be there for long, a little walk around then head back. Wrong. By the time we had left we had been there for about 4 hours. With lots of smaller statues, the blessing tree, the view points, the little stalls selling keepsakes and leaves for the blessing tree and information dotted around in different places, we loved it! There were even monkeys in the trees, but I stayed well clear! We hung a blessing leaf and sat taking in the views, watching the rain sweep towards us across the hills before heading back down. The walk up and down was much easier than I thought it would be and it's certainly a place I'd recommend to visit.

After a lovely week it was time to say goodbye to my mum and her husband. Although we don't have that long left travelling it still got a bit emotional, doesn't everyone hate saying goodbye to their mum! We set them off on their way and headed home. Now it was time to take advantage of having a place for longer than a few days. Relax, recoup and plan.

Princess Passengers and Penis Poles

tigerlillytravels — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 11:00:00 GMT

From Samui we headed to Krabi. We had heard good things about it but as with most places we visited we didn't know what to expect.

We had booked a ferry with a different company, and what a disaster. The actual journey was fine, but our transfer dropped us off, we were directed to a ticket office, then pointed in the direction of the pier. And that was it. It was midday, we were stood at the end of an unsheltered pier and there were 5 of us waiting. Just us 5. Me and the hubby, 2 girls and a lad on his own. No one else was to be seen. We waited about 20 minutes in the baking heat and a guy on a motorbike came down, checked all our tickets and ripped off the stubs then went to ride off. We asked if we were in the right place and he just nodded and kept riding. It was scorching and there wasn't a single shred of shade. As the sun shifted the lampposts started to cast little shadows, soon enough all 5 of us were stood underneath the lampposts that lined the tip of the pier. I've no idea what we must of looked like but those shadows were saving us from sunburn so I didn't care. After just over an hour waiting, a boat appeared, as did what looked like a fresh coach load of passengers. I had no idea where they had come from but they certainly hadn't been stood in the bloody sun for an hour frying half to death. But somehow a few of them thought it ok to just stroll on past to the front of the queue for the boat. Na ah! Not happening.

All 5 of us bustled our way forward, but when one girl arrived next to me, boyfriend it tow, lugging 2 cases, a carry on size case and a back pack while she carried a beach bag and fanned herself with her free hand, I was ready to pounce. She flounced all the way up to us near the front and shouted at her boyfriend to hurry up so they could get on, then stepped out in front of me. I'm not one for charging to the front of queues and if the hubby had his way we would wait until last to get on or off any mode of transport, but after more than an hour of cooking she had no chance. I would of happily thrown her overboard, she would of been fine, she could swim with the free had she had been fanning herself with!!

Once off the boat at Don Sak pier we waited about 30 minutes then we were loaded onto coaches. A few hours later we were arrived in Krabi and were bundled onto a mini bus. We were at the back of the queue for the mini bus when the same girl from the ferry strolled past a line of about 8 people, and plonked herself on the shoulder of the man checking tickets as people got on. Every single person in that line edged onto the bus sideways to prevent her from pushing in. Once we were all on she through a hissy fit at her boyfriend because she had to sit on a single seat by herself and he had to sit in the front. She was fuming! It was hilarious. Our mini bus dropped us right in Ao Nang on the beach front. We found a hotel there and again it was a little diamond find! It included a buffet breakfast and had a lovely little pool.

From here we spent days lazing at the pool, wandering the markets and and bars. Every inch of space was filled with a bar, a restaurant, a clothes stall, a bag stall. It was a bit like Blackpool but nicer weather!

We also decided to do another snorkelling trip through a hostel just around the corner from our hotel. The boat would visit some of the most stunning locations including Ton Sai, Ko Poda, and Railay.

On the day the weather was horrible. It was raining, the whole sky was grey and we had been hearing rumbles of thunder all morning. I was not willing to spend the day throwing up on a long tail so we made a plan to ask hostel to let us go on another day, if they hadn't already cancelled.

We walked the 3 minutes to the hostel and we were pissed wet through! Literally drenched. When we asked the woman at the hostel just said "Sorry no."

So that was it, we were getting on the long tail. Thankfully the group we had was pretty small so we didn't have to cram in. We got food for lunch which was really tasty, and a few beers and water along the way. By the time we had set off the weather had completely cleared. It was baking and not a cloud in the sky.

The snorkelling was fantastic and because there weren't many of us it wasn't chaotic.

We got time on the stunning beaches, visited the famous 'Penis' Caves that are a shrine for fertility. This place is a place of worship but you can't help but giggle like a child when you see some of the carvings and interpretations. Some of them are so big they look like poles. The stories the guide told us of tourists taking photographs in compromising positions was enough to make your toes curl 😂. We relaxed sipping cocktails in a little reggae style beach bar. From the beach bar you could climb to a viewpoint. But this wasn't just a flight of steps, this was a death trap. There was a wooden/bamboo ladder attached to the rock face, perfectly vertical, and rickety as hell. Once you got to the top of that you had to basically become a monkey to get across the rocks. There was a huge gap between them and it was way too high for me to even consider. Obviously the hubby did it. My heart was in my mouth watching him but I couldn't help but laugh watching him scurrying across the rocks with his arse up the air. Hilarious.

The hubby was the only other lad on the boat so him and the 'tour guide', a young lad from America, hit it off and basically spent their day shot gunning beers.

It turned out to be a decent day in the end. We were glad we went.

Another destination ticked off the list. We are flying through them.

Settling in on Samui

tigerlillytravels — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 10:00:00 GMT

While we were in Koh Tao we also decided to do a snorkelling trip. All the water trips! We paid for a half day trip and joined about 60 other people to head to the pier. We were loaded onto 2 boats and off we sailed.

Throughout the day we visited Lighthouse Bay, Koh Nanguan, Shark Bay and a few other locations, with the chance to snorkel at all of the sites. The waters are just incredible. So crystal clear. Our guide was very good at his job, full of energy and really involving everyone. He took a shine to the hubby and kept chatting to him. At one dive site he acted as a tour guide just for the two of us, taking us to little coves in the rocks where there were hundreds more fish. Obviously other people joined us after a while but he was keen to show us everything.

We took a walk on one day down to Sairee beach. It had lovely views and some fab little bars and shops, but the beach was a bit battered. There was rubbish everywhere which just spoilt it a little. But we did notice there were signs all over the island advertising beach clean ups every few weeks, so at least they are working to fix it and using tourists to help, seen as though it's mainly tourists who cause the problem.

Our time in Koh Tao had finally come to an end, a planned 6 days had turned into 2 weeks and although it had been tiring we had loved every second. It was time for another island, so we booked a boat to Koh Samui. A place we had visited once before and we had loved. We had picked a different area on the island, and booked a hotel with a pool. For the price we paid we didn't expect much.

The ferries are pretty good but chaotic when you first get on, with long queues it can be a bit of a battle but quite well organised considering. We got on and got a seat without issue and it was plain sailing. By this point we had stock pilled the magical 7eleven motion sickness pills and I was taking one every single time I went near water. Little miracles they were.

When we arrived in Koh Samui we had pre booked a mini bus transfer and when we arrived at our hotel we were gobsmacked. It was lovely, pool was clean. We were given fruit juice and cold towels and asked to take a seat while they arranged our room (we were early for check in) 10 minutes later we were in our lovely room! Huge comfy bed and a balcony with a table and chairs, overlooking the pool.

Yes thank you!

We had purposely booked a hotel with a pool to relax after all the diving and early mornings in Koh Tao. We bought cereal, some fruit and yogurt from the family mart across the street and ate breakfast on the balcony every day, and then lounged around the pool, swimming and sunbathing, enjoying a few cold beers.

On our first night we headed to the beach. We grabbed some cushion beds at Ark Bar and we watched the sunset. It was bliss. The other evenings were similar. We strolled to the beach and had food and wandered around. The walk on the beach at night was lovely but so much of it is lined with resorts that refuse to let you cross their land to get back to the Main Street. We tried and got stopped by about 3 different places until we spotted one that didn't seem to have security so we made a run for it. When we got to the other side we noticed there was a big gate at the entrance and a security box. Thankfully the gate was open and even better the security guard was fast asleep!

We didn't do much else in Samui, we just wanted to relax and enjoy the sun. We stayed for 3 nights then moved on.

Diving Part 3 - Fun Diving, Koh Tao

tigerlillytravels — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 11:00:00 GMT

Fun Dive time! It was the day of the trip to Sail Rock. My confidence had built quite a bit on the Advanced Course. I was still cautious but I didn't see that as a bad thing being 20-30ft under water.

It was an early start, we had to be ready to leave the dive resort at 8. We had got up about 6 (not having a job to get up for is making mornings so much harder 😂) I was too tired to even think about being nervous. We headed out, the boat was much quieter than other dives, and were given our dive brief on the way. We had a different Dive Master today but he was just as nice as our instructor, really laid back, appreciated I was apprehensive, and completely put my mind at ease.

Because the site was quite a distance away, both dives would be completed here on the same site. Fine by us, we were looking forward to it.

We were diving as a group of 4 plus our DM. The other 2 were solo travellers. Both lads. One English and one German.

I remembered everything I needed to remember and once we had completed all of our buddy checks I felt 100% more confident when it was noticed how prepared and organised we were.

We descended and were off. Until we weren't. I couldn't descend. I was battling to drop into the water but I just kept floating towards the surface. I was concentrating on my breathing, I'd completely deflated my BCD, I was properly weighted (same as the previous dives) I just wasn't sinking. I was so confused and the hubby just thought it was funny. Our DM dropped an extra weight in the pocket of my BCD while holding me at his depth then waited for me to descend again. Eventually we were off. I was praying that wasn't a sign of things to come!

The marine life here was incredible. We dove directly through a school of chevron barracuda that completely surrounded us. Everywhere you looked they were there.

We arrived at a structure called 'The chimney'. During the brief, the description of this had made a nervous and I didn't think I would do it. But before I even realised what it was I was half way through. The chimney was basically a vertical tunnel. You started at the bottom and swam upwards towards the light that shone from the surface. It was wide enough for 1 person but not too narrow. I'd been worried about getting snagged on something on the way through but it was actually really simple and an amazing view.

The hubby took all of it in his stride, as always. Taking snaps on his go-pro and practically diving alone. He didn't bat an eyelid, even if things went wrong. On one occasion he couldn't descend, his face was a picture through his goggles, just arms out to the sides of him and wide open eyes as though he was saying 'oh well' 🤷🏻‍♂️ . Sometimes he would disappear out of sight, not ideal for my nerves, but he would always reappear at some point as though he had always been there, give me the ok, then explain later he had just seen something interesting and wanted to take a look.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see any Whale Sharks. The sightings had stopped about 10 days, maybe 2 weeks earlier. I was gutted for the hubby, but he wasn't really that fussed. He was just so please he had spent so much time under water and now had a dive qualification. He was already talking about all the other places he wanted to dive on the rest of our trip.... oh.... I've got to do this again.??

Diving Part 2 - Advanced Open Water, Koh Tao

tigerlillytravels — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 10:30:00 GMT

We had arranged to have a day off and the start our Advance course with the same group we had done the Open Water with. This meant the course would fall over a day that the dive school visited Sail Rock. A dive site famous for its marine life and the sighting of whale sharks. The husband is obsessed with sharks, and over the weeks leading up to our visit to Koh Tao we had 3 friends dive there and see whale sharks.

Then, Sod's law, I got sick.

If we postponed for a day or two it would mean missing the Sail Rock trip.... so we decided we would stay in Koh Tao a little longer. We booked the Advanced course for two days later then booked onto the Sail Rock trip as a fun dive the following week.

By this point we had changed our accommodation. We had moved to a guesthouse/hostel at the top of the hill just a 5 minute walk from the dive school and apart from the 500 steps up to the room, it was lovely (really it was about 50). Loads of space, clean and comfy, and it was a good job because we would be here for about 10 days! Thankfully it was also pretty cheap.

Delaying our course meant we would dive with a new group, or so we thought. The school was a bit quiet at the minute which was normal due to the Full Moon party on Koh Phangan. So it was just me and the hubby with our instructor.

During the days I was sick we completed all of our theory papers. Most of it was self learn, using the books to read and find answers, then completing question papers.

Day 1 we started just before lunch, about 11. We spent a bit of time on the beach doing some navigation skills, learning the basics of orientation under water and how to navigate back to your start point. We had lunch then headed out for 2 dives.

My nerves were still shot but I relaxed a lot quicker on this dive.

We went to a new site, Lighthouse Bay. At this site we found a clear space at the very bottom and had to complete buoyancy skills. We had to show we could control our breathing to rise and fall in the water, that you can maintain trim (a horizontal position) and basically float freely.

The rest of this dive was just exploring, it was unreal just gliding around coral and rock formations with so much wildlife so close by.

Dive 2 was at Mango bay, and this was where we would have to demonstrate our navigation. Always working in pairs (the buddy system) one navigates and the other counts kick cycles to determine distance. We took turns of each task, our instructor giving us a heading and a number of kick cycles to complete using hand signals. Our first heading was in a straight line out and back again, then we had to complete a square/rectangle from our instructor back to our instructor. This skill was the first time the instructor had been out of sight during our dives, and it was a bit unsettling, but with the hubby's confidence I stayed calm. We did it with ease and the instructor soon came back into sight.

During the hubby's square, we were interrupted by the instructor gliding towards us waving his arms signalling for us to follow him. The skill was completely abandoned and we followed as fast as we could. He made it look effortless just gliding ahead of us. Then we spotted it, the huge turtle just a little further into the distance. It was a Hawksbill turtle and it was incredible, it seemed to just float through the water. And we just hovered there watching it. This kind of stuff made the panic worthwhile!!

So far we had been really lucky that the sites we were using were different. Depending on the days you dive and the conditions, sometimes you end up at the same sites.

Dive 3. Usually 2 dives in the morning and 2 dives in the afternoon is your standard day. But to pass an Advanced Course you have to complete a night dive.

Ermmm......

So our kit is packed, we were given a torch to attach to our BCD, and shown how to use our dive computers and signal in the dark. Loaded onto the boat and flapping a little, I overheard someone from the school ask our instructor if he would do top cover. This would mean he wouldn't dive with us. We were attached to another instructor, which was fine because she only had a group of 3 anyway, but it was someone who didn't know how terrified I was 😂

All went well on the dive and we were pretty much left to our own devices (obviously she checked on us regularly to make sure we were still there and do level checks) and we completed another navigation skill with her. But some of the other divers didn't seem as competent and it looked as though they needed a bit more support, so we just swam near the back and took in all the sights at night. It actually really helped with my confidence because as I watched her helping others, I realised I was coping perfectly fine. When we surfaced we had been brought up at the wrong boat. It took us a while to surface swim to our boat and it was bloody hard work. The conditions were choppy and we were swimming against the current so by the time we got our I was exhausted. Only 2 more dives to go!

Day 2. Dive site - Laem Thain Pinnicle. Our first dive was the deep dive, one I had been dreading a little. We would dive to a maximum depth of 30 meters. I had a little trouble equalising at first, the pain in my left ear was shocking, but I did what I'd been taught, went up a little, focused on equalising, then descended again slowly. It took a little longer than usual but I did it and we were off. This dive was very relaxed. We pretty much just spent the time exploring and it was brilliant. We had to focus a lot on our dive computers and provide our instructor with our tank levels more often but that was all becoming natural now.

Tanote Bay. Our final dive! On this one we had to complete a fish identification. So we had to find a fish we didn't recognise, remember it, then draw it when we returned to the surface and find it in the I.D books. Again, the rest of the dive was just exploring, testing our skills, getting closer to the fish and the coral and enjoying the scenery. I didn't realise how distracted I got under the water until this dive. I picked a fish and forgot it twice so really had to concentrate on remembering it. I was so engrossed with everything around me without even realising. And my confidence got another little boost as I realised all my skills and breathing were becoming more and more natural.

I think this diving thing might be growing on me!

Diving Part 1 - Open Water Course, Koh Tao

tigerlillytravels — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 10:00:00 GMT

Leaving the park was terrible! Everyone cried, no one wanted to leave, even though all of us where exhausted. We got our last cuddles in with Duckie then the bus took us back to Chiang Mai. We checked into a guesthouse and headed out for drinks. It was the hubby's sisters last night so we went to see the night markets and wander around. We had a lovely night and got a bit drunk then set her off on her journey home the next day.

Back to just the two of us it was time to head South! We had been excited about South Thailand since the beginning of our journey. We had visited Koh Samui and Koh Phangan before and Koh Phangan was where we got engaged. But our first stop was to be Koh Tao.

Koh Tao is known for its cheap scuba diving. Apparently the second cheapest place in the world to learn how to scuba dive. The hubby has been desperate to dive forever, and after a shark dive experience at an aquarium he has been practically obsessed. I, on the other hand, was not so keen.

Vast open water scares the living daylights out of me, and the depth makes it worse. I've experienced diving once before about 10 years ago on holiday in Cyprus and I spent the whole dive holding the instructors hand!! 😐 I had agreed to attempt the Open Water course to show willing, but I wasn't doing more than that! The husband could do the Advanced on his own!!

We arrived in Koh Tao in the evening and had booked accommodating at the dive school as part of a package. Seemed like a good idea at the time but the room was roasting with just a fan that wasn't the best. Thankfully the shower was great so that was a bonus.

Day 1 was purely theory. The course only had 4 people (us and another couple) so it was relaxed and I felt a little more at ease that I wasn't going to embarrass myself in front of too many people. We spent all day in a meeting room watching dvds and completing work books before taking tests on every section of information. It was a lot to take in but the crucial bits of information were pretty straight forward.

Day 2 was a pool day. We were fitted for kit. Given wetsuits, mask and snorkel, fins, weight belts, a bcd, regulator and a tank. We're we're shown how to assemble and test all of our kit working in a buddy team and then set off to the pool. All of the basics were taught in here and it was a full on, intense day. We were in the pool by 9:00, stopped for about 40minutes for lunch and didn't finish until 3:30. Sounds average but with all the kit, in and out of the water, being terrified and still learning to breath without using my nose was absolutely exhausting!

By the end of the day everyone had shown competency in all of the skills needed..... except me. I hadn't been able to take my mask off and breath without it. You have to be able to remove your mask and replace it, remove it and swim without it, and remove it and breath for 1 minute. For some reason my brain found it impossible to allow me to breath using only my mouth. I kept filling my nose with pool water, coughing through my regulator then freaking out and dashing to the surface. Well the problem with that is when you're 20meters under water you can't just pop your head out and catch your breath... Shit!

It took me another 20 minutes or so to master the skills. I couldn't stop myself from taking a deep breath in whenever I was going under, it was just instinct. The instructor made me squat so just my mouth was in the water, then my nose, then my whole head. I was still freaking out but was managing to control it better. I actually managed a whole 2 minutes without my mask. So apparently that meant I was good to go diving in real water.

The hubby on the other hand had nailed it all pretty much first time, he took everything in his stride and didn't seem fazed by any of it. He loves the water, he loves everything about it and is fascinated by everything you find in it. We stop at every pond to check if it has fish, he will watch them for ages. He was so excited to get out on the boat. Although by the end of the day his eyes were red raw from the chlorine and he practically passed out straight after a shower.

Day 3. We're going diving!! Well, not straight away. First we had to complete some more test papers and learn how to use a compass under water by walking around on the beach.

After lunch it was time to gear up and get on the boat. We filled our kit bags and waited for the signature "Boats are ready" call. We waited. And waited. And waited.

Then I freaked out. I had to leave the bar where everyone was sat chatting, all excited about the dive. I had to take a break, because I was about to have a melt down. I had a little cry, a bit of a panic, then decided I wasn't go on the dive...

Then had another little cry thinking about how much of a wimp I was being, then decided to go...

Then cried again because I was still petrified.

Brilliant start.

Finally I dragged myself back to the group and we headed across the beach to the pier. Once we were on the boat we got straight into setting our kit up then headed to the top deck for a register and dive brief. Our 2 dive sites would be Japanese Gardens and Junk Yard. I leapt from the boat about as gracefully as a baby giraffe and immediately panicked. There was no need to panic, I could breathe, I could see and with my bcd inflated I could float. But I was in open water. And it was bloody deep.

Our instructor gave the signal to descend and we were off. And it was fine. And I could breathe. And I was calm. It took me a little while to slow my breathing right down and I had to concentrate on it, but once I was below the water everything switched off. The noise of the boat, the unsteadiness of the surface, the awkwardness of all of the kit. We were practically weightless and just floating around the ocean.

We spent around 40 minutes under the water and it was brilliant. We saw so many different types of fish and coral. The colours looked almost fake.

At one point we were practicing buoyancy skills, our instructor pulled a 360 and stayed waving and signalling for us to kick towards him. We moved as quickly as we could until he told us to stop, then he gave us the signal for a Trigger Fish. We all spotted it. It was a Titan Trigger Fish. It was just hovering in the water, we hovered with it for a minute or so before the instructor signalled to move, and move fast. When we surfaced he told us the trigger fish will sometimes attack divers and if it's fin is up you should move away quickly. This guy had his fun up so we had to get away from it.

By the second dive I had relaxed a little bit. We spent another 40 minutes exploring and completing the skills we had been taught in the pool. This dive site was partly artificial. The dive school had invested time into placing items for coral and marine life to thrive on. They have a gym (literally a set of gym equipment underwater) metal frames in the shape of different animals, bikes, even a toilet!! It's placed there to encourage coral growth, and it's working.

While we were weaving through the metal frames we spotted the cutest little yellow box fish. It was tiny. And apparently there are some resident divers who have been looking for the box fish for a while, and we were lucky enough to see it on our first dive at the site.

All was going well. Until our instructor told everyone to head for the boat while he took me back under to practice taking off my mask.

PANIC!!!!

We only went a few meters down so I just kept reminding myself we were right at the top and amazingly I took it off, put it back on and cleared my mask first time without a problem. Back on the boat I was quietly proud of myself and hubby was keen to find out how I had done. Thumbs up all round.

Day 4 we headed out first thing in the morning. Another 2 dives that were meant to be at Twin Peaks and White Rock but the water was terrible. The boat was rocking all over the place and waves were crashing up the side of us. During the decent of our first dive the other girl diving with us disappeared. We looked up just to catch her fins heading for the surface. She had gotten sea sick on the boat and been sick during the decent. She panicked and took off for the top! She dealt with it far better than I think I would of, she just took a minute to calm herself, cleaned her kit and started again.

Once everyone had descended it was time to do the actual mask drill. At depth. And just for extra encouragement, we were being filmed too. No pressure.

My turn, I ran through it in my head, composed myself, focused on my breathing ...... and nailed it!! First time round, mask off, mask on and mask cleared, no dramas.

We spotted another Trigger Fish, a juvenile yellow box fish and and a blue spotted ribbontail ray. The hubby was like a 5 year old. He was so engrossed in what was going on he didn't pay much attention to the rest of the group 😂

By the time we got back on the boat a decision had been made not to go to White Rock because of the crap conditions so we headed back to Japanese Garden. We used this dive to focus mainly on some skills and maintaining buoyancy.

During the 2 dives of the day we had another diver with us. She was recording everything to make a little film for us to buy. We weren't sure we wanted it. It was pretty expensive, but we played a bit for the camera and had some fun. It actually helped me to relax a little, focusing on something other than my breathing.

When we got back we had a little bit of paperwork left to fill in then time to shower and change before heading to the bar for our film premier 🙄 the footage was actually really good and we couldn't help but want to buy it. We managed to get a discount between the 4 of us in our group and it was worth every penny!

That was it, our Open Water Course was completed. The hubby was already booked onto his Advanced Open Water, and somehow I had been convinced I could manage it too.... this could be a disaster!

ENP Dogs, Chiang Mai, Thailand - ❤️

tigerlillytravels — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 10:00:00 GMT

So we finally got back on track with our travels and kicked off with a week at Elephant Nature Park Dogs. We also had the husbands sister with us this week as a birthday gift for her, so it was nice we all got to travel from the UK together.

If you've read any of the blogs you may have seen a post about the park from the beginning of our adventure. That week was volunteering with the elephants. This week was volunteering with the dogs. All 500+ of them!

They started us off with a little walk around the park where we got to interact with some of the elephants and see the work being done to rehabilitate some of them. (If you want to know more head back to

-The Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai

-Behind the scenes of the Elephant Tourist Trade.)

After our walk we were shown to the 'Dog House'. A house at the back of the dog runs that could accommodate 9 volunteers. We had 11 in our group so 2 were put in a cabin by the elephant volunteers accommodation. The house was basic, a ceiling fan, mosquito nets over beds and wooden shutters for windows, it was always hot! There were 2 showers and 2 toilets with sinks. The showers were temperamental at the best of times and you were sweating again the second you stepped out.

Once we had picked a bed and dumped our kit we headed back to the clinic area, the main hub of activity for the volunteers. Here we met the staff and the 'long terms'. Long terms where volunteers who had been at the park for weeks, months, even years in some cases. We had the most incredible group of people to show us the ropes! Monica was in charge, assigning us with areas to work in and keeping the days running smoothly, this woman is a real life Wonder Woman!! Jess was her right hand, who knew so much about the dogs and the routines she could help you with anything. And then there was Chelsea and Freddie, these 2 were inseparable and great fun. They clearly loved working with the dogs, neither of them had planned to stay as long as they had but couldn't tear themselves away!

We were all given areas to work in. We were divided between the clinic, the gallery, the office, the nursery and the pups. I was working in the office, it was a 1 man job with 3 lovely doggies, and the hubby was in the clinic area with his sister and 3 others.

The clinic is the hub of the dog sanctuary, it's where all new additions go to be checked and treated and where the poorly dogs go to be looked after. It's bonkers! It's always busy and there is loads to do, the days are full, and the jobs are constant. Start at 8, stop at 11:30 for lunch, back at 12:30-1:00 finish at 5. It sounds fine, but you are cleaning, walking, washing, feeding, chasing and generally on the go, in baking heat, all the time. And the long terms do this 7 days a week, every week, no breaks.

But after saying how tough it is, I can also say it is one of the most rewarding things I have ever been a part of. Helping to care for any of these animals and being part of the team there when new rescues arrived was incredible.

The hubby was asked to help get a dog from a villagers car to the clinic. The poor guy had been hit by a car and brought in. He was massive, but so scared. The hubby sat with him on the clinic floor keeping him calm and hand feeding him because he couldn't reach a bowl. He then had to carry him to the X-ray room and back again. Another dog was seen limping around the park, again hubby to the rescue, he managed to bring him in, but for days afterwards he was the only person the dog would allow near him, he just growled at everyone else.

During the week one of the volunteers left, so the job of looking after the pups needed doing. I was asked to do them as well as the office dogs. The pups were in a quarantine area as they weren't finished having their vaccinations and they were split into 2 sides of a room, so I had to split myself between 2 areas, cleaning, feeding and walking on 3 timetables. The pups were so cute. Yin, Yang and Karma were boisterous and mischievous. They loved to bite everything, including me, and were constantly trying to make an escape!!

Flora and Fauna were the most adorable tea cup sized pups and super cuddly. They were in a big cage on the work top so the other 3 wouldn't pester them and just loved being held and fussed over.

Every day we would get to work on our jobs and routines, and every day we would also visit the disabled dogs. At the park it's quite common for them to receive dogs who have been in road traffic accidents. Many can be rehabilitated but some can't. The park has a specially made run for these dogs, that has a tiled floor to help them move around with ease. Each of the disabled dogs has their own fitted set of wheels so they can still go for walks, and every day they are taken for a walk around the park. During a conversation with another volunteer I was told that in many shelters in Asia these disabled dogs would be put down but here at the park they are cared for, treated and allowed to have a happy life.

While we were at the park 9 dogs were prepped and sent on their way to new owners around the world through the parks adoption programme. It was amazing seeing them off but watching the long terms say goodbye was bittersweet. These guys become so attached over the weeks or months they are here and it's easy to see how.

The week wasn't without incident though. One day I noticed one of the pups was a bit off. Wouldn't eat, didn't seem as energetic, wasn't trying to nibble my fingers off when I was opening the gate, or vault over my head to get out the door! The clinic took the pups temperature and administered some fluids and the next day seemed better. The following day, however I noticed some bile on the floor. It was the turn of another pup, all of the same symptoms and just wanted to cuddle up on my leg whenever I sat with them. The clinic decided to take bloods and got a positive result for a disease called Parvo. The park had experienced an outbreak of Parvo earlier in the year so the response was immediate. I was the only volunteer to interact with the pups so I had to go and shower. Cue the shitty water supply! The house had 2 showers and I spent 15 minutes running from one to the other praying for one to actually work. Finally one did and it held out long enough for me to scrub my skin red raw. The pups were moved to another quarantine area to allow the staff to keep them further apart to help stop a spread, and non of us got to see the poor guys again while we were there.

I did keep in touch with people at the park to ask about the pups and apparently they are now all clear and back to full health. Thankfully the case didn't turn into a wide spread issue but they gave the staff a fright!

Lastly, you may of noticed I didn't mention the dogs in the office much. The office had 3 dogs.

-Boss, the founding doggy of the park. Boss is a poodle (maybe a cross) and he is tiny. He was rescued from the floods in Bangkok when the dog sanctuary was first established. He is completely blind in both eyes but rules the office like 'a boss'. He is a grumpy old man and loves the sound of his own bark! If you can get him on side though you can walk him just by calling his name. He listens for your voice and just follows you around. Very impressive, although he does spend a lot of time walking into things as he navigates his way around.

-Hula, a very mischievous little girl. She loves to play fight and tease Boss, as well as planning her escape by practising wall jumps. She loves her food! She's very energetic and very stubborn. Walking her is great fun but she loves to tease other dogs!

-Then their is Duckie (Merengue). This guy is our dog. We met him when we visited the park in March and we fell in love. We have now officially adopted him. We got to spend some of our week taking him on walks and getting to know him and what super star he was!! He has quadrupled in size since we met him in March so may well be a bear by the time we get him home, but we are completely in love. He is cheeky and playful and very friendly. He loves being fussed over too which is good because the hubby couldn't put him down. They already have a ridiculous 'bromance'!

I could go on about this place for days. There is so much about it I've left out already. But mainly you need to know that it really is incredible. Even in the baking heat, with rubbish accommodation, broken fans, crappy showers, even crappier wifi, tiring work, long days and howling dogs keeping you up all night, it is still worth every bead of sweat just for the sense of achievement at the end of the week. To feel like you've given something. If you are ever in North Thailand, get to the sanctuary and see the dogs!

Angkor Wat

tigerlillytravels — Fri, 7 Jul 2017 10:00:00 GMT

We boarded the night bus from Sihanoukville, we were the first people on from our pick up, and we spent a little time driving around to different hostels. At one pick up we heard the familiar voices of 2 friends we have been bumping into since Laos. Their seats were directly in front of us so we spent some time catching up with them.

This was another sleeper bus. But it wasn't like the others we had been on. It literally had bunk beds. Our 'bed' was a bottom deck one. It was basically a leather covered double bed. With blankets provided. It was comfy enough and we managed a couple of hours sleep. So did the cockroach we were sharing with.

When we boarded the bus we were told there would only be 1 service/toilet stop. It was about an hour into the journey when we stopped there. Strangely though, we stopped at least 4 more times through the night but most people where asleep. The driver would get off, close the doors and either go for food or smoke. Each stop was anything from 20minutes to an hour, so the journey could of been about 4 hours shorter!!

When we arrived in Siem Reap it was about 7am. We got off and found a tuk tuk driver that wasn't trying to rip us off. We asked him if we could hire him for the day, take us to our hotel to drop our bags off, then take us to Angkor Wat. Again, the tuk tuk driver was great. He was really helpful and his prices were reasonable and he often stopped to give us little pieces of information on places. When he took us for our entrance tickets he even came in with us to help us with the queues and the chaos.

We had heard of Angkor Wat, and it was one place that my dad often mentioned when I spoke to him about travelling and us visiting Cambodia. What we didn't realise was that the tour covers the Angkor Park or Complex. Tickets can be purchased for a 1 day, 3 day or 7 day pass. There a many, many temples to be visited on these passes.

When we arrived at Angkor Wat the temperature was already soaring at 39 degrees. Because the temples are sacred you must dress appropriately so not to cause offence. A general rule is below the knee and over the shoulder. This made the heat a little more difficult. But, the views were incredible!

This place is up there with the most 'touristy' that we have visited. The vast size of it made it easier to wander around but it was FULL of people trying to take perfect selfies. Stopping dead centre of walkways to take 300 pictures, checking every single one of them before deciding it isn't good enough and taking another. Don't get me wrong I love taking photographs (not of me but of places we have been) and I obviously want memories of all the amazing things we are getting to experience, but for God sake just take a few consecutive shots and move the hell on!!

The worst experience of the serial photographers was at the temple entrance in the centre of Angkor Wat. A group of Chinese tourists were in front of us in the queue, they had taken about 50 pictures of the 5 of them during the first few minutes, then I received an elbow to the back as one of their friends pushed passed me to join them. I made a comment about a queue but I was unsurprisingly ignored. Until another 2 attempted to pass us. At this point, without a word to each other, my hubby and I stood side by side, it a wide leg stance, like bouncers on a club door pretending to carry carpets... there was no way they were getting around us this time 😂 but, the worst was yet to come.

For anyone who doesn't know (I think I've mentioned it in other posts) I'm a little bit terrified of heights. This temple is high up! When we finally got to the bottom of the rickety 'ladder' that was practically vertical I was very aware that it wobbled whenever someone on it moved. We started on our way up and I remained as focused as I could on the steps, counting them to distract myself ... just for each one of the group in front of us to stop half way up and turn around for their friends to take photographs. Not just a quick snap then carry on, this was becoming a full blown photo shoot. After the 3rd one of the group had finished the hubby lost his rag and told them bluntly to move, we became the bad tempered tourists who come across ignorant because we were fed up of people being ignorant... The irony! We pushed our way through them and by the time we got to the top I was trembling from being stood waiting on those ladders.

The views were worth the height and bit of stress. They were impressive and vast and we had a lovely time wandering around the ruins.

Once we found our tuk tuk driver we headed to the next few places on the loop. Few of the temples are individual temples like we visited in other places, most of them are part of complexes. We spent the next 6 or so hours, in the baking heat, visiting these amazing structures. All of them in different states of ruin.

It is definitely a sight to see on any trip to Cambodia, but as with many other places, if you wish to avoid 'tourist' crowds then this isn't the place for you. I do think the cost of the tickets is excessive, but with so many people willing to visit and with constant footfall, it's easy to see why it is being exploited.

Our journey home started the next morning so we arranged for the tuk tuk driver to come back for us and take us to the airport. A strange feeling to be heading home but we will be back soon. In Thailand again!

Sweaty Hostels & Smelly Sick

tigerlillytravels — Thu, 6 Jul 2017 10:00:00 GMT

The day had come to collect our visas from the Thai embassy and it all went without incident. We had to wait quite a while but we pretty much walked in, gave our receipt, waited, and received our passports with a big sticker visa inside. Great.

From Phnom Penh we were moving to Sihanoukville, a costal town in South Cambodia. We were booked on a mini bus, which was a little cramped but fine. Another bus journey, another town. The journey was fine until the little kid behind us threw up about 40 minutes out of Sihanoukville. It was horrific!

We arrived, a little queazy, and headed for our hostel. There was a big bar front with seating, good drinks deals and all sorts of food on the menu. They even had a small pool!

We had booked a private, fan room and it was very basic. We can do basic, that we don't mind, but when it's 36-40 degrees outside you would like somewhere to cool down and relax. This is impossible when you room is hotter than outside!!! We stayed for 2 nights then did a bit of research. The guest house we decided to move to turned out to be directly opposite our current one. We headed over and checked in. The room was an improvement but still basic. The bathroom was tiny but had all we needed. And the pool was amazing! We spent the whole day lazing around the pool, which is only the second time we have done that this trip I think! We found lots of great places to eat and little coffee shops, we spent some time at the beach which was literally bar after bar after bar with seats (no sun beds) and vendors trying to sell you food, drink and massages.

We also go roped into the Sihanoukville bar crawl. I say roped in as we originally went out for food and a couple of drinks, then the reps got us. We said no many times but before we knew it we were playing flip cup wearing skimpy bar crawl vests and downing shots.

When we got home I fell asleep pretty quick. I was woken what must of only been a couple of minutes later to the sound of the hubby being sick. Anyone who has ever had to experience this knows that he can't be sick quietly. He is like a man possessed. It's so so loud. When I got up he was in the bathroom, door wide open, throwing up on the floor ..... directly next to the toilet! I was so tired I couldn't muster more energy other than to close the door on him 🤦🏻‍♀️

Needless to say the next day was rough. I was woken again by a noise from the bathroom, this time it was the hubby using the 'bum gun' hose to try and get the remaining sick off the floor. I have no words...

We had a great night though, from what we could remember of it.

While in Sihanoukville we had some bad news from home. A decision was made to book a flight. We needed to be back in the UK. This meant that we had to cut Cambodia short, but because we were flying from Siem Reap and because of the way the flights fell we had 1 day to spend there. We decided this day would be spent at the famous Angkor Wat, squeezing in as many of the sights as possible.

Killing Fields & S21

tigerlillytravels — Wed, 5 Jul 2017 10:00:00 GMT

The main 'tourist attractions' in Phnom Penh are known as the Killing Fields and S21 Prison. No matter how tough you think these places will be, they are worse. It's barely worth me explaining as it won't give you an understanding of the depth of these places.

But. We arranged a day with a tuk tuk driver, we bartered a price and he drove us to each location and waited for us while we went in. It made things a lot less stressful as we didn't have to battle with the hoards of drivers waiting at every exit point!

When we arrived at the Killing Fields we paid for our tickets and audio guides. I didn't really know what to expect from the audio but it was soon apparent you can't do this tour without one. It is brilliantly done. It's methodical, detailed and void of any propaganda. It's voiced by a man who lived though the time and who lost his family to the Pol Pot Regime. I cried more than once. As I say it's impossible to do this place justice if you haven't experienced it.

The audio takes you from check point to check point, which are all numbered. You can do it in order, you can do it backwards, or randomly. You can skip sections you don't want to listen too or that you don't think you can. You are in control of the whole tour. We listened to everything, even the posts that were additional to the check point information.

For anyone who is unaware of the killing fields (I hate to admit, I was completely oblivious to them before this trip) they are exactly as they sound. Simply explained, a man named Pol Pot gained control of Cambodia. He claimed he wanted a nation of equals. That everyone would work and labour to provide for the country. He did not agree with people being educated or professionals. In his mission to 'equalise' the country, people were arrested and detained for many reasons. If they were educated to any level, if they worked in the city, if they were teachers, doctors, solicitors etc, if they wore glasses or had soft hands..... yes, if they had soft hands he saw this as proof that they were 'privileged''. These people were rounded up and locked away, no trial, no sentencing, no chance to be heard. While doing this he began to 'evacuate' the cities, telling the people it was due to the threat of bombings by the Americans, they could return in a few days. Everyone was forced into the countryside villages, if you refused you were detained.

As the makeshift prisons began to fill, people were loaded onto wagons at night, blind folded, and told they were being moved to new houses. This is when they were transferred to the fields. When they arrived they were led from the wagons and put into holding areas or made to kneel on the ground. Here, the guards would use axes, spades, wooden planks, batons, knives, or anything else they could utilise, to kill the prisoners. Their bodies pushed into pre-dug mass graves that they had unknowingly knelt in front of. Working tools were used to beat the prisoners to death as apparently bullets were too expensive and valuable. This often meant that prisoners suffered terribly and for long periods of time. Some are believed to have been buried alive.

This process was carried out over and over again, and thousands of men, women and children lost their lives. The dictator believed that even the children should be murdered to prevent and acts of revenge in the future. One saying is repeated on the audio tape- "to kill the grass, you must also remove the roots."

At the fields, many of the mass graves have been excavated and the remains found have been laid to rest, but due to the scale of the horrific acts, the fields we were visiting had been preserved to an extent. It had been decided that the remaining bones should be allowed to rest where they lay and the site would be used as a place of historical relevance. The remaining mass graves are fenced off and signposted. It's reported that even now, bones, teeth and sometimes rags of clothing are brought to the surface when there is heavy rain and the ground becomes water logged.

There really are no words. The fields are now incredibly peaceful but harrowing.

Once we left we were pretty drained. Then the tuk tuk driver took us to S21. Another place you cannot prepare yourself for.

The prison was originally a school, and you can imagine it as one when you stand outside. Until you begin the audio guide, and it points out the fact the windows have been filled in to restrict the rooms air flow and prevent anyone being able to see in or out. You can go inside most of the rooms, that have images on the walls of the rooms as they were found.

Again, it's a place that needs to be seen.

Briefly, it allows you to wander the buildings, seeing classrooms that had been used as interrogation cells. Rooms that had makeshift brick walls erected that acted as cells. These cells were packed in, they barely looked big enough for a person to stand/lie down. Some rooms exhibit replicas of devices used to torture prisoners for information. Others display images of the prisoners, found in documents recovered after the regime fell. The whole concept is insane and difficult to comprehend. That all of this actually happened. People did this to other people for no reason.

By the end of the day we were truly exhausted. The lovely tuk tuk driver had been amazing, he had offered to take us to all sorts of places, he talked to us about the places we had visited, and the impact of the history on his country. It still amazes me that this all happened in 'recent' history but is not something that isn't spoken about, taught or well known by newer generations. We met so many people who had never heard of these events until they began to travel.

One Stop Visa Shop

tigerlillytravels — Sun, 11 Jun 2017 10:00:00 GMT

During our trip we have met people from all over the world. While in Phnom Penh we caught up with a couple from Canada that we originally met in Da Lat, Vietnam. They were on their last night in Phnom Penh so we headed out for some food and drinks. After a bit of a wild goose chase looking for a restaurant that didn't exist yet, we finally found a nice bar and spent the night chatting, sharing experiences about different places and getting to know each other. Sometimes this is the best bit about this trip. Meeting people you would never usually cross paths with and hearing about things they have done.

After a lovely night and a few drinks at the rooftop bar we headed for bed. The hubby said he wasn't feeling too good... oh no!

The next day we had planned to be up, out and exploring. We also wanted to visit the Thai embassy to apply for our 60 day visa. Non of this happened. The hubby was sick. The day was a right off. I went to the shop for water and bits for us to have a day in the room. He slept most of the day. Except when I went for a shower and opened the bathroom door to find the biggest cockroach EVER staring at me. It took all my efforts not to scream. I planned to leave it, hoping it would disappear back to where it had come from, but it didn't. It charged at me in the doorway so I had to wake the hubby up. I had no other option, honestly! He wasn't too impressed when he dragged himself out of bed, but when he spotted the cockroach his reaction said it all, "Sh*# its massive." See, I wasn't over reacting, I wasn't being a wimpy girl.

By the evening he was feeling a little better so we ventured to a cafe across the road for local food. It was gorgeous but he was still exhausted so we ate, chatted for a little bit, took in the surroundings then headed back.

Next morning we headed to the Thai embassy in a tuk tuk. In previous places we used the Grab app a lot, but they don't have it here, and we've noticed we haven't actually seen taxis. Everything is tuk tuk. Wherever you go you will hear "tuk tuk.." "Where you want to go?" "Lady, Mister, I take you there." Constantly. I remind myself a lot that it's their livelihood, they are just trying to make a living, but when you've been asked 179 times in 10 minutes and the next one follows you along the street shouting at you, it's easy to loose your cool a little.

Anyway, back to the embassy. We got there and started filling in the forms, they were pretty straight forward but we repeatedly asked the lady behind the counter to check it for us. Her English was good and thankfully she didn't mind. She checked the forms, attached our pictures, checked our passports and took our money. She gave us a receipt and told us to come back 3 days later to collect. The office wasn't too busy when we arrived but we found out that the norm for people who want a visa and live in South East Asia, is to pay an agent to do the work for you. Men were arriving with jam packed rucksacks full of passports. I mean hundreds of them. They lined them all up on the counter and passed them through the little hatch, to come back for them in 3 days. It made me nervous looking at one person with so many passports, imagine loosing them all!!

When we had researched the visa online it seemed to be really strict. You have to have a list of things to give to them, including the obvious like passports and money, they request passport pictures and proof of onward travel. The form is like a larger version of an Arrivals card you fill in at the airport for immigration but in reality this particular embassy wasn't too rigid (I can't comment on others obviously). The woman was really helpful, with some sections I queried she said "it's fine just leave it blank," and when we explained that we didn't have proof of onward travel because we had 4 more months she just said it was "not a problem." Great!

Because our plans had been pushed back a day the visa processing fell over a weekend so we had to stay a little longer to wait for them. The guest house we were in hadn't rented our bathroom out to any more cockroaches so we asked to extend... they were full! We did a little searching and found a little place around the corner that seemed ok. We walked in and bartered a price. It was perfect. A huge window out onto the street, a silent air con unit, a lovely strong shower and a really really comfy bed. Now to fill the days while we wait for our visas.

Lazy Borders & Livestock

tigerlillytravels — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 10:00:00 GMT

Ho Chi Minh also has a Military Museum (lots of places in Vietnam have them and we visited one in Hanoi.) We decided to check it out after being dropped off from the tunnels, and with an entrance fee of 50p each it was worth a look. It started very similar to Hanoi's museum. Propaganda. Everyone else was wrong and we were right. A very one sided story. Then it took a turn. Rooms full of images taken by journalist photographers, images of injured children, images of people suffering from the effects of chemical attacks. The main culprit being the chemical known as Agent Orange. This thing was horrific. There are no words to describe these pictures. You would really have to see them yourself. And they say there is proof that people are still suffering from the effects of this chemical generations on.

Another section of the museum focuses on the jails and tortures used on the 'traitorous' Vietnamese. Although it doesn't seem to say it outright, this place was Vietnam on Vietnam... they tortured each other brutally. Starvation, water boarding, sleep deprevation, withholding water and food, cramming multiple prisoners into tiny spaces making them fight for air to breathe, cages made of barbed wire that restricted movement, breaking or totally removing bones, finger nails, eyes. This was relentless, and somehow there are survivors to corroborate the stories, with life long injuries because of their treatment. The whole place left me completely speechless. Some research will show you the horrific extents this country went too during the war.

After the museum it had been a heavy day. We wandered a little and found the Notre Dame of Vietnam. It's a little haven in the middle of the chaotic roads and shopping places. It is also open for mass services. Strangely, we bumped into some Australian tourists that seemed more interested in taking pictures with the McDonalds signs across the road... go figure!!

We had pretty much spent up on our time in Vietnam and our visa was running out. It was time to move. This time to Cambodia. We booked a bus and were told it was a 6 hour journey and the visa would be arranged for us. All set!

The morning of the bus journey we got up, lumped our bags on and walked the short 10 minutes to the travel agents. They walked us to an agents about 10 doors down, where the woman had a face like a wet weekend and an attitude to match. She sulked when we sat down, she sulked when we went to the shop next door, when our transfer mini bus arrived she didn't even tell us, the driver had to come get us!! We got on the mini bus and he took us in a big square, right past our guest house, to the bus station. We loaded onto the bus which was comfortable, then drove back past our guest house again...twice!!

Once we were on our way the 'guide' came to collect the passports and visa money. Great, one less thing to worry about! The journey was uneventful, a few random stops but we happily read and watched tv.

It was when we got to the border that things got interesting. They made us all get off and file into a huge warehouse type building. About three quarters of the way down was a single metal detector and a scanning belt. It soon became clear that only the 'westerners' needed to scan their bags. We then queued at the make shift passport booth waiting for our passports back.

We waited.... and waited.... and waited.... every single person on our bus was cleared, then the next bus was cleared, then a mini bus, then some more.... when our passports were finally handed to the 'guide' he immediately handed them back to the man in the booth. When we got to the bottom of it, the man in the booth was refusing to stamp us out of Vietnam because he didn't recognise our VIETNAMESE E-Visa. Is this actually happening! They are refusing to allow us to leave the country because of the visa that got us into the country...!?! We waited for ages. Every time we asked our guide what was happening he would hold up a hand and shout "WAIT!" On two occasions he did this then went straight into the 'duty free' shop for to buy cigarettes. Obviously got his priorities right 🙄

When we finally got our passports and visa stamps the 'guide' made us run to the bus. 2 minutes later we were getting off again. They led us off and pointed to a waiting area. We entered and waited. Then we were told to walk through the building. Turns out it was the official Cambodian check point. We walked past at least 5 desks and not a single person so much as looked up from their phones to see who we were. We walked straight back out at the other end, about 20 meters away from where we had entered, then got back on the bus!

What the hell is going on!!!

2 more minutes. Off again. This time at a road side food place. The drivers stop here for food. It's a strange place. No proper menu, no interest in tourists. And we realised we were here to wait for the officials from the border to bring the passports to the 'guide' hahahaha! Insane. Literally at no point did anyone look at my passport picture and me at the same time.

But we were in. And that'll do for me.

The rest of the journey was as easy as the beginning. Until we started pulling over for locals, but there were no seats left. As if that would stop them though. Out came the deck chairs and the plastic stools.... all the way down the isle. Whenever we stopped the 'guide' would make them all get up, move to the back and push all the chairs back, to let out the passengers, then lay it all back out in the isle again. We had to laugh. We've just never seen anything like it.

By the time we arrived in Cambodia (Phnom Penh) we were 2 hours late. We were told 6, it had taken 8. We got off and the bags were being thrown off the bus, standard! It was when I picked my bag up I noticed something a bit weird, then when the hubby went to get his bag the driver stopped him and reached down under the bag to pull out 2 birds. Yes. 2 feathered, flapping, squawking, live birds. They had been in the hold, amongst the bags, for 8 hours. One girl was laughing so hard that she literally just collapsed (I assume with the shock) in the middle of the road on the wet floor. What is happening.

We got our bags and jumped in a tuk tuk. Arrived at our guest house and the place is clean and comfy. Can't ask for more than that. Let's see what Phnom Penh has to offer.

Chu Chi Tunnels

tigerlillytravels — Fri, 9 Jun 2017 10:00:00 GMT

We seemed to have picked a good spot in Ho Chi Minh. The road with most of the bars and restaurants was just around the corner, the covered market was 5 minutes in the opposite direction and there where travel agents everywhere.

Unfortunately, here is where it was the husband's turn to be ill. He was rough on 2 days, which is really unlike him. But he soldiered through 😳

We booked a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Another place we had heard about. An area of forest that has been adapted for tourists. It has the remains of some of the tunnels used during the Vietnam war. We knew it was going to be massively 'touristy' but we had to visit. It was about a 2 hour drive from the Capital. At this point I am sure that all of our bus drivers are in competition to see who can be ranked the most insane. The last one managed to shave 2 hours of a journey time. This one simply had a death wish. There is no other excuse for playing chicken with busses twice the size of ours or with lorries. At one point one passenger actually let out a little yelp.... I guess it's all part of the experience. When we arrived at the tunnels the car park was crammed with buses. We were given tickets and followed our tour guide into a forest area with huts built into the ground with roofs made of bamboo.

We were led into one of these huts which was about 7 steps deep into the ground. They played a short video showing Vietnamese fighters during the war and how the tunnel system worked. The tunnels consisted of 3 layers. Each layer served its own purpose and allowed the fighters to cook, clean, sleep, eat, store weapons and ammunition, store food and water and move from place to place, without one affecting the other. The tunnels supposedly ran for miles. All the way to the Mekong River in one direction and as far as Cambodia in the other!

After the video we were shown to a tiny hatch in the ground. It had a wooden frame and a wooden 'lid'. A Vietnamese soldier was on hand to show us how the fighters would of used these in the war. He pulled piles of leaves around him and underneath where he sat, he covered the lid with leaves then he lowered himself into the hole, lifted the lid above his head, and dropped into the ground. It was quite impressive how well camouflaged the lid was with the leaves. These holes were tiny. According to the tour guide they are about 50x60 cm. Easy for the tiny Vietnamese farm to fit though but almost impossibly for the big American fighters (so they said). After watching a few of the skinny travellers 🙄 attempt getting into the tiny little entrance hole we moved on to see the types of kitchens they would cook in, the rooms they would meet in, the uniforms they made and wore and the shoes they made from tyres.

We moved on to an are with a raised platform that was fenced off. There were small holes along the platform and each one showed a different type of traps the Vietnamese would use. Originally, the spikes would be carved from bamboo and hidden in holes in the ground, covered with leaves. These replicas are made from metal, I'm not sure if that is to make them seem more impressive or more terrifying.

Next we moved to the firing range. Yep. The firing range. Where you can buy rounds from the Army (minimum of 10, maximum of how ever many you want) to fire from a selection of American weapons. At the range there was a gift shop and a corn stand. We tucked into a corn each and tried to find some shade from the relentless heat. Not even halfway through my corn (some people where just paying for theirs) our tour guide started shouting for his group. All of a sudden he was in a huge rush and we had to practically run to catch up to him. Once we rounded a corner he stopped just as quickly as he had took off. He then asked us all to squat down as low as we could (he demonstrated just so there was no confusion) and walk forward. Once he was happy we could all do this he told us anyone with asthma, a heart condition or poor health could not take part in the next bit. He led us to a narrow opening above a flight of steps into the ground. They had created 'tourist tunnels'. These are bigger than the originals, but still tiny, and are much safer, with a proper structure apposed to mud walls, but you get the idea while you are in there. They are cramped, dark and sometimes difficult to move around in. You can't stand, or really turn, you can just squat and move forwards. It's hard to imagine that people might of practically lived in these during the fighting. It's also hard to know to what is truth and what is dramatised as even the tour guide made it clear he was a firm supporter of communism. And when we ask what would happen if two soldiers met going in opposite directions, he just looked confused and moved on.

Regardless of the bias, or the heavy tourist footfall, the place is worth a visit. It's interesting.

We made our way back to the bus, the journey back was more eventful than the journey there. At one point we hit a hump in the road so fast that pretty much every passenger got air between them and their seats. We had a stop off at a road side restaurant (the common thing to do) and waited here about 30 minutes for the driver to eat. Luckily we made it back to Ho Chi Minh in one piece, no thanks to the driver!

Cold Cabbage Soup & Crazy Bus Drivers

tigerlillytravels — Thu, 8 Jun 2017 09:00:00 GMT

The next morning we checked into our next hotel. We only had one night here. And thank God! The place was awful. It had damp on 3 of the walls, you could see the mould patches. You could even smell the damp the second you walked through the door. Thankfully the bed was clean and comfy and the shower was good. It was just one night, we could cope. The husband stripped off (as he always does) to cool off. He went to the bathroom and on his way back out, our room swung open then slammed shut... the cleaner/maid had thought it was a good idea to just let herself in to replenish the toilet roll (there was already some in the bathroom!) His face was a picture as he laughed telling me she must of got an eye full 😂 Unfortunately that wasn't the only time someone tried opening the door. Two more occasions the door handle was messed with, the door had been locked so they didn't manage to get in. And once we had someone knocking on the door so hard I thought they were trying to break in. We were looking forward to checking out.

We checked out early the next morning and headed for the bus station. This time heading to the Capital, Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). It was another sleeper style bus so we knew we would be comfortable and there was allocated seating so we didn't have to battle for a seat. The travel agent had told us the journey was around 7-8 hours. So we settled in. About half way, as with most bus journeys, they stop for you to use the toilet, to get drinks or to eat. We got a beef noodle and I thought I was getting a vegetable fried rice. I wasn't. It was some kind of cold cabbage type soup and a bowl of veggies in another cold liquid, with a large plate of boiled sticky rice. I don't think I will ever get the hang of this!! The noodles were good though.

Back on the bus. By the way, the bus driver was a lunatic. It must be part of the job description. He was rather fond of his horn and his breaks. Sometimes I think he hit them both just to check they were still working, as there was absolutely no other fecking reason too!!

I decided to have a quick check on our map app to see how far away we were. Strangely we looked super close to Ho Chi Minh, like, 30 minutes away. According to the 7-8 hour time frame we still had at least 2 hours left of the bus.... this estimate obviously hadn't accounted for the lunacy of the driver. As we had got closer to the city the heavens had opened. It was now bucketing with rain, hitting the bus windows in sheets. Perfect. As the bus stopped we had no idea where we were. They called for us all to get off, to find our rucksacks pretty much in a puddle at the side of the road with one of the hubby's trainers gone rogue on the pavement where it had literally been ripped of the front of his rucksack. He was fuming.

A lady asked to see our tickets and asked "Where you go?" Before we had chance to answer her a man was grabbing my arm trying to push me forward. Now by this point of the trip my patience for situations like this has become non existent. It's incredible how rude people will be if you let them (maybe that's a problem I've always had) but it took all my will power not to swear at him and tell him I was waiting for my husband and my ticket. He seemed to get the point (probably from my facial expression) and just stood waiting with a face on him. We packed into the tiniest of spaces in the mini bus that was waiting, with me sitting on a pull down seat. We thought we were the last ones on as there we're already too many people on the bus.... don't be daft!!!! Of course they made space for 2 more people and their bags... somehow. One of the poor sods (he was about 6 foot and not a small bloke) was given a plastic stool. I swear it was like something from a children's tea party set but smaller. Needless to say he didn't sit but stooped over for the whole journey.

It was a relief that the rain had stopped when the minibus came to a sharp halt. At least we didn't have to walk in the rain.

We got to our hostel (Elegant Inn) and checked into our room. It was huge! The hubby was reenacting scenes from 'Step Brothers' quoting "So much room for activities." It was clean and comfy! Yeyy!

Now let's see what the Capital has to offer.

Dinner in Da Lat

tigerlillytravels — Wed, 7 Jun 2017 18:00:00 GMT

After 2 fantastic nights in the amazing hotel we really didn't want to leave. It was so comfortable, a little home from home luxury. But we had to move. We had a flight booked from Hue to Da Lat. The hotel provided an airport transfer and off we went.

Once we landed we bought a bus transfer ticket, collected our bags and jumped on the bus. When the bus arrived in Da Lat the driver tried to kick us off early... along the way he had also been picking up locals and taking detours to drop them off. It was chaos. The driver obviously got fed up with having to get off the bus to get bags for people so he dragged them from under the bus and threw them onto the empty front seats. When he shouted at us a 3rd time to "get off here" we finally agreed. We bundled off the bus as quickly as we could, but before I was fully off he was already moving. I picked up my bag and noticed the top was ripped. It had been pulled so hard that all of the stitching around the top cover and the strap support had all come away. I couldn't carry it, it needed restitching. We got to the hostel in tact and asked for a needle and thread for me to attempt to fix it. We were shown to our room which was dated but clean and tidy, with a little balcony door and a wet room bathroom, standard. We were unpacking the essentials and emptying my rucksack so I could fix it, when the hubby closed the bathroom door. It was only when he went to put the towels in the bathroom that he realised the door was locked... it had locked itself with our wash kit in the bathroom and us in the bedroom. The husband decided he could tackle this problem himself using 2 of my hair clips.... needless to say that didn't progress very far 🙄. He ran down to tell reception, they came with a whole array of keys and stood rifling through them trying each one. After a few minutes the lady, who didn't speak a word of English, waved us out of the room and unlocked the one next door. 10 minutes later she knocked with our wash bag.

The hostel had advertised a 'family dinner' so we decided to go along. We would get to meet people and try some more local foods. When we got downstairs a young Vietnamese woman said "no dinner, we go to vendor and markets." It was basically a free tour of the town. The young girl introduced herself as Knee (she repeatedly pointed to her knee and said "just like this.") she took us to a tiny little back street food place, with metal tables, plastic chairs and plastic sheets as a roof. We were each given a plate of ingredients for fresh spring rolls and we sat and rolled our own.

She took us into another food shop that did a Vietnamese style desert. Knee recommended the banana soup. It took some convincing but we agreed to try one. Its sauce was similar to custard with sliced fried/grilled banana and some kind of liquid pods. Apparently they are from flowers, they dry them then rehydrate them to go in the 'soup'. It was actually ok, but I doubt I would buy it again haha.

She then took us to the night market. Same as all the others we had visited, there was lots of food stalls, jewellery shops, clothes and shoes, anything you can carry to a stall, you can find at these markets. We didn't stay too long as no one was really interested in buying anything.

The next stop was our last stop. It goes by many different names but we heard it called Maze Bar and 100 Roofs Bar. It has the tiniest of entrances and looks like nothing from the outside, but once you enter it's indescribable. The place is simply insane. We had been told to go here weeks ago and the recommendation had stated "whoever designed this place was definitely on acid.." We laughed at this, but once we started to look around we began to think that statement was a little bit reserved. It was literally a maze of twists and turns, tunnels and staircases. You never seemed to pass the same place twice but somehow you always got to where you wanted to be. Some of the tunnels are tiny, some of the staircases are pitch black and it would be simple to take a tumble after a few too many. Certainly worth the visit.

Our guide had been incredible. She was so friendly, she wanted to chat to everyone and even wanted to hold hands with some of us as we walked. I chatted to her for a while and she told me she had studied science and worked in a lab dealing with plants and crops. She had decided to leave and take the job at the hostel because the pay at the lab wasn't very good and she couldn't talk to people. All she wanted to do was talk to people, learn about them and the countries they came from, and she especially wanted to practice her English (Which by the way was very, very good.) it was during this conversation she told me it was her first week, I told her if she kept up the way she was going the hostel would be packed every week. She was such a kind hearted person.

The second night we did go to the family dinner. There were about 20 of us (probably more) a whole mix of nationalities and stories. We had a buffet style meal of local dishes and the food was fantastic. We sat with a few people we had met the night before and got chatting to a few others.

The conversation always starts the same-

"Are you on holiday or travelling?"

"Where have you been?"

"Where are you going?"

"How long are you travelling for?"

These are key to any hostel conversation.

After the food we sat chatting with a few drinks. The music in most places is streamed through YouTube, it was the same here. Someone further up the table started to YouTube karaoke versions of songs... some of them were shocking. By the time we decided to call it a night our ears were practically bleeding!! We got upstairs and started to pack when we heard a chorus of pissed up travellers all singing our wedding song at the top of their voices. We've heard this in a few places now. It's like a lucky charm following us on our travels. Still makes me smile every time I hear it. And reminds us how lucky we are to be on this trip.

Hot in Hue

tigerlillytravels — Wed, 7 Jun 2017 10:00:00 GMT

The hotel was incredible. We checked in and the reception staff quite happily called the scooter company to tell them we had arrived. They then sent us up to the 8th floor where we were shown to a table set with a plate of fruit and a glass of passion fruit juice each. Once we had finished the receptionist came to the table with a map and showed us where the 'tourist' spots where and what was worth doing. Finally they showed us to our room.

Now this place is much fancier than anywhere we have stayed so far, it was also a bit more expensive, but it had been recommended to us with a brilliant review and we fancied a little bit of luxury for 2 nights.

We weren't disappointed. The room was beautiful with big windows overlooking Hue (as with most places it's very built up so the view is mainly buildings) and lots of natural light. We had a proper bathroom instead of a wet room and we even had a bath! The wardrobes had 2 towel robes in it, and the bed was just heaven.

I immediately ran a bath! A cool bath with nothing in it because I still had the rash on my arms and face and didn't want to irritate it anymore! I wasn't sure what had made my face and eyes swell a few days earlier but that was starting to go down now. And I was pretty sure the rash may have been prickly heat, so I just needed to try and keep it cool, which was almost impossible with the temperature outside, but the bath would help and I was going to make the most of it!!

We waited for a phone call to say our bags had arrived. The hubby went to get them and about 15 minutes later he came back empty handed.... they were the wrong bags... oh no! We waited for another phone call about 20mins later and headed down again. Thankfully our bags had been on the bus, they had just pulled the wrong ones off!

After both spending stupid amounts of time in the bath, soothing the bloody sunburn, we went for a walk around. The temperature had dropped a little so it was a nice walk. About 2 minutes away from the hotel we found a street packed with bars and places to eat. It catered for everything you could imagine. We had found a few places on trip advisor and they were all on this street. Perfect location.

The next morning we went for breakfast (included in the price of the room) and it was delicious. Buffet style with a fresh egg station. The staff wouldn't let you stand and wait, they sent us back to our table and brought the eggs over. One member of staff wouldn't even let me wait for my toast, he toasted it for me! The selection was massive. Cooked breakfast items, salad, cold meats, fruit, yougut, cereal, rice, noodles, vegetables, pastries and fruit juices. We decided spending too long in the sun was a bad idea with our sun burn, so we did a little tour of the hotel and found a cute little swimming pool next to a fitness suite and a spa. Perfect.

Later in the afternoon we headed out for a walk again. We walked to the Citadel to see the Imperial City and Purple Forbidden City. The a wall and a moat form the perimeter of the Citadel which enclosed the Imperial City. The Purple Forbidden City lies within that, and access was originally restricted to members of the Imperial Family. It's an impressive place, the structures and grand and imposing, but now it's more common to see children with their parents playing on the courtyard and couples taking photographs in front of the vast Flag Tower.

For us Hue had been a quick pit stop, but we were quickly learning that some people are only able to spend 2 days in the majority of places they visit. I couldn't imagine being able to enjoy a place if we were moving that fast. We are so lucky to have the time that we have and be able to explore and take it all in slowly.

The Hai Van Pass

tigerlillytravels — Tue, 6 Jun 2017 10:00:00 GMT

Time to hit the road! We dropped our rucksacks off at the scooter shop (they will send them to Hue on a bus for us) and picked up our scooter. We were relieved to see it was pretty new and looked in good condition. Over the past few days we've seen some horrific looking bikes that I wouldn't trust to get me to the end of the road. We got a map, checked the bike over and jumped on.

This route featured as part of an episode of Top Gear a few years ago, an episode that made the 'Hai Van Pass' famous. The tourist trade of Vietnam have obviously monopolised on this, they would be daft not too, and plenty of travel agents and scooter rentals offer options to ride the route. The most popular seemed to be the 'easy rider' where one of their drivers rides the bike and you ride on the back. The hubby wasn't even considering this, and to be honest neither was I as we like the idea of having the freedom to stop when we like and do what we wanted. So we had opted just to rent and ride ourselves.

Getting out of town was interesting. The hubby has a full bike licence but it's been a few years since he rode, and never with me on the back. The traffic was crazy, as it has been everywhere. No one indicates, many bikes don't stop at traffic lights, most people drive on the wrong side of the road instead of queuing in traffic, but we made it out to the costal road which opened up and was much calmer.

On the route were a few places we could stop. We chose to stop at the Marble Mountains first. As soon as we arrived we knew we wouldn't stay too long. It was over run by masses of tour groups with 30-40 people in each group. We had timed it as well as we could. The groups were just getting off the busses so we rushed for tickets and headed up quickly. When we got to the top there were some impressive views of the surrounding towns and out to sea, although it was a little cloudy. The mountains themselves were incredible to see. The time and effort it must have taken to create the sculptures and carvings is difficult to imagine. We managed to see some of the caves with only a few other people in them. Again this place had a mix of influences from different cultures, with its Buddha statues, Japanese carvings, pagodas and temples. As we predicted we didn't stay too long. It was great to see but quickly became too crowded and difficult to get around on the narrow steep staircases.

We headed back to the bike and set off again. After about an hour we were well into the Hai Van Pass road. It was surprisingly quiet, a few other bikes, the odd few busses and lorries, but generally it was calm. The views were breathtaking. We found a little shack cafe at the side of the road. We pulled over and the little Vietnamese lady came to greet us. She sat us down and brought us drinks, offered us food and pointed to a large boulder type rock in front of us. It protruded out of the hillside and had steps carved into it to make it easier to climb. We headed onto it to take some photographs. The owners have certainly profited from the location because the views from the rock are the best we saw along the Pass.

While we sat taking in the view we quickly realised that we were both burning, the hubby's arms where turning a nice shade of lobster and my thighs weren't far behind. We topped up the factor 50 before we set off again but something told me it was beyond help.

The Pass is difficult to describe. Even as a novice bike passenger I absolutely loved the experience. I would recommend it to anyone as it's so simple, the maps are pretty accurate, it's easy to stop whenever you need too and you don't have to battle with traffic.... that is, until you hit Hue.

We knew we were close as the roads where getting wider and the traffic getting thicker. We were back in the thick of it with insane drivers who obviously didn't value their lives! By this time the hubby was more than confident (thank God) and was able to hold his nerve when needed, even I didn't freak out too much, apart from squeezing his sides or shoulders as if they where breaks whenever it got a bit to close for comfort... sorry!

By this point we had been on the road for about 5 hours. We were both burnt, windswept and starving! We spent about 30 minutes battling through Hue's traffic. We had been lucky that 99% of lights or junctions we just had to go straight ahead. Until we got to a roundabout. I don't actually know why they bother with roundabouts, genuinely. It baffles me. They are basically a free for all. No lanes, no right of way (not that we could work out anyway), no filter lanes, no curtesy for other drivers, blimey these lot don't even stay to the right side of the road!! It took us a few seconds to work out which exit we needed. The husband was on a mission. He managed to avoid the pack of beeping bikes and scooters that were coming straight for us, weaving around some quite impressively.

As we headed away from the roundabout we took a little side road and quickly spotted out hotel. We pulled into the underground car park and were shown to reception. My backside was completely numb and my hips didn't want to work! The sun burn had got worse, even after the factor 50, and both of us had impressively sharp tan lines on our arms and thighs. We wouldn't be hard to miss in a game of spot the tourist 🙄.

The Ancient Town & More Allergies

tigerlillytravels — Fri, 5 May 2017 18:00:00 GMT

It was time for us to move on again. We seem to be moving quickly at the minute. Always on the go! This time we were heading for Hoi An.
We checked into a party hostel. The room was fine, the bathroom had a bath but there was no chance I would use it. Oh and we were sharing our room.... with a few little cockroaches and a gecko.
Once we dropped the bags we headed down to the bar to see what was going on. As we walked to the dining room we met a group of people we had spent the day with tubing in Vang Vieng. If that was anything to go by then the next few days would probably be a bit of a blur! We had a catch up with them and all decided to head out together.
We walked, and walked, and walked... I seem to be saying that a lot, but I've never walked so much! We walked all the way to the Ancient town on the river. There are many impressive buildings, all crammed together as is so common in Vietnam. It is mixed bag of Vietnamese, French, Japanese and Chinese cultures, its confused identity takes influence from so many eras, but at the same time it is a beautiful place. During the day you can walk the streets with the endless stalls and vendors, visit the little museums of Trade Ceramic and Culture, and admire the tiny Japanese Covered Bridge from the 1700's. at night time you can enjoy a drink and some delicious food by the river, set a floating lantern down the river, or enjoy a little boat trip. The town is covered in coloured lanterns and traditionally designed lamps. But again, as with any place on the travelling route, there are many bars desperate to get you in, with touts outside pushing ridiculous drinks offers and blaring music. Don't get me wrong we spent a few nights down here and had a ball, but it's easy to miss the essence of Hoi An's Ancient town if you allow yourself to get carried away with the party scene.
We took a trip to a beach while in Hoi An. The friends we met had suggested it. Named 'Hidden Beach', its tucked away down a narrow dirt track off a large main road. There ended up being a group of about 10 of us, and we had a brilliant day. We chatted, swapped stories and recommendations, listened to music, swam and drank all day until the sun went down. The beach was busier than the one we had been to in Da Nang but still so relaxed and not over crowded.

Unfortunately I had another disaster... this time I developed a rash... all over the inside of my arms. It was red, blotchy and itchy and I had no idea what had caused it. The next morning I woke up with a swollen face and the rash on my neck. Brilliant. Maybe Vietnam isn't my kind of place!

The next few days were spent as part of the group we had been to the beach with. We wandered the Ancient Town, relaxed at the beach, and ate some amazing food!! We visited 2 restaurants that were incredible. One was Indian, we ate so much food we could of popped... and it cost £6 per person! The other was a place called Vy's Kitchen. We had booked a table for 14 people and when we arrived it looked like the place wasn't big enough to hold 14 .. they led us through the front of the restaurant and we looked like we were heading into the kitchen before the place opened up into a huge market style area. It was huge. We ordered a local style pork dish and a duck dish and I can't explain how delicious they were!
After a few party days in Hoi An it was time to move, again! This time we weren't planning on getting a bus, or flying.. we had rented a 135cc scooter to get us the 160km to Hue. I was being brave and putting my life in the husband's hands. Probably a bad idea but we will see what the journey brings.

Airport Benches & Allergic Reactions

tigerlillytravels — Fri, 5 May 2017 08:00:00 GMT

We arrived back in Hanoi, to the intense craziness. Our flight to Da Nang wasn't until early the next morning, but we decided we would embrace the travellers ways and sleep (ha ha ha) at the airport! When we arrived we were pleased to see the airport was quite big with plenty of places to eat and grab a drink. So we ate, stocked up on some water, and found a few seats in a corner.
We quickly realised this could be a long night.
The airport slowly started to quiet. The hustle and bustle of passengers had stopped by about 11:30 and the only people left at check in where the security guards, us, and a few other travellers that obviously had the same idea as we did. Oh and the cleaners.... who repeatedly moved us to sweep, re-sweep, mop and re-mop, the small corner of floor we had pulled our bags in. They obviously found this hilarious watching us move our bags back and forth, lifting our legs on to the benches and down again, up and down, up and down! It got old quickly.
When they finally finished we reorganised ourselves to try and get comfortable and settled into a book. Before long we were drifting in and out of sleep. We managed a few broken hours before the movement in the terminal began again with people arriving for early morning flights.
We breezed through the check in and security and sat at our gate..... until I mentioned the gate should of been open by now and the hubby noticed the gate boarding at the opposite end of the lounge had our flight number! They had changed the gate without announcing it, at least not in English. That could of been an interesting few hours if we had missed the flight after hours of travelling the day before and very little sleep!

The flight took about an hour. We landed and managed to get a wifi connection. We ordered a taxi through an app called 'Grab'. It's a service almost identical to Uber but it's a lot cheaper! And more reliable than local cabs you hail on the street. As an example, we had been quoted 100,000 VND by a taxi we hailed. We knew he was trying to rip us off as the journey was less than 10 minutes, probably because we're foreigners. We then ordered a Grab, and paid 18,000 VND. That's about 60 pence!!

We arrived at the hotel and they allowed us to check in early. Lovely and clean with a comfortable bed, which is always a winner!! It took us literally 2 minutes to walk from the hotel door to the beach front! A beach!!!! We get really excited when we find a beach as so far there haven't been many of them, AT ALL! The beach was massive, and beautiful. It had a few little shack bars which own sun loungers for you to rent. We spent the whole day here just relaxing. The beach was really quiet during the day, only around half of the beds were full and each set of beds were quite far apart. Without many people around it was so nice to relax, but then around sundown the locals begin to arrive. All of the families, couples and groups of friends file down, playing football, volleyball, heading into the water and going for a swim. It's apparent that they prefer the cool weather of the late afternoon and they stay until long after sundown.

Da Nang is a massively up and coming area. There a building sites everywhere. Even the tiniest of spaces are being crammed with little hotels and guest houses. Because it is still being 'developed' it appears a little bit lost. There are tons of local restaurants, it can actually be cheaper for them to eat in these places than it it for them to cook at home. Then there are the tourist restaurants and bars, dotted about in different locations.
One location we chose to see was the riverside. It was packed with a mixture of western and Vietnamese cuisine, coffee shops and vendors. The main attraction is the Dragon Bridge. It's a huge steel structure spanning the River Han. With its yellow arches and it's dragon head it is impressive to see, but even better at night, when the entire bridge is lit up. If you visit at a weekend the dragon bridge will breathe fire and water as part of the 9pm show!

We walked a lot in Da Nang, generally exploring and enjoying the beach.
But then we had a drama!
One morning we decided to head to the beach and pick up some fruit along the way for breakfast. We stopped at a street vendor where we got watermelon and pineapple. We watched the ladies impressive knife skills are she sliced a whole watermelon and skinned and chopped a whole pineapple, even giving the pineapple an impressive star shape to make sure all of the rind was removed. We strolled to the beach, sat on the wall and ate some fruit.... yummy.... until.... I started to cough, then I couldn't stop coughing, then I was struggling to swallow and my throats was itching! What the hell!! I was having an allergic reaction to the watermelon and all of my throat had swollen up, and fast! That put the stoppers on that morning as we had to head back to get some antihistamine and stock up on water! Bloody typical!
We managed another day at the beach the next day but I spent the whole day coughing, feeling like I'd swallowed a rock. Great! Thankfully the swelling didn't last too long and I was just left with a sore throat and a bad cough. I need a day off 😂 thank God for the beach.

Tiny Towns and Huge Hills

tigerlillytravels — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 18:00:00 GMT

As I said in the last post, one of the first things we noticed about Sa Pa was the weather. When we arrived it was warm and sunny, when we headed out for some food about an hour later it was cold and cloudy. From the window of our room we could see the mountains and we watched the cloud roll in and everything become foggy within minutes. It was like something from a horror movie! I took a picture from the bedroom window of the view, then I took the same picture again a minute or so later then another a few minutes after that. When we looked at them it's amazing it's the same view. On the first we can see the trees and the buildings and the mountains, in the last one you can only see a tree!
A sign in the town centre tells you that the weather is unlike any other place and they can experience all four seasons in a day. I spent most of time in Sa Pa wearing trousers and a fleece. It got cold!

Over the next few days we explored the town again. We re-walked the route we had taken from the bus stop to the guest house and did a lap of the lake. We did the other side of town which had a beautiful church and a large amphitheatre type are full of children on roller skates and bikes and a man renting hover boards! Coffee shops are big here, and baguette sandwiches. Every food place seems to serve exactly the same menu and you can't walk 5minutes without street vendors approaching you asking where you are from and trying to sell you things. They swear what they are selling is homemade, bags, hats, jewellery ect. But every vendor has the same merchandise and all of them are identical. Not a single difference between one owl print bag and another. The street sellers are all women and many of them have children with them, girls and boys, but mainly young girls. The majority of them dress in traditional village clothing, and the children are very well educated on how to attract the attention and push a sell. Many of the sellers with children will let the children roam an area while they sit at a short distance and watch. I wondered if this gave the impression that the child was alone so people would feel sorry for them. What also seemed common was for the children (most seemed to be aged between around 4-8, a few as old as 10) to be carrying babies, in swaddles strapped to their backs. One little girl we saw was tiny. I'd say no older than 5, carrying what we assumed was her brother, around 2 years old, who was a little brute! But non of these children seemed phased. They appear happy and well looked after. Where I wanted to see them playing and being children I had to remind myself that this is all they know, it is their culture and their way of life, even if it seems unfair to me!

We had looked at different options for trekking in Sa Pa and the routes were all sign posted so we decided to head out for a look. Everything is on a hill. Everything.
We headed out of town towards Cat Cat Village. Down. Down. Down. And down a little bit more. There were a few shop stalls and a handful of cafes but not a lot else.
All we had been interested in was the views. And they didn't disappoint. The landscape is something else out here. They dig little plateaus into the hills that look like steps. They use these for growing rice and they flood them just like rice paddies, to encourage growth. It really is incredible. We got to the staircase that led to Cat Cat village and we were met by an aggressive man sat inside a little hut, he shouted at us and bluntly stated 'ticket'. We said we weren't on a trek we were just wandering and he shouted again 'ticket'. Now I understand these places want to take advantage of tourism to help them build their economy, but this was a bit far. It was a village, where people lived, just like the town we had just left, the steps we were stood on led to little stalls at the sides of the path waiting for people, it was in a wide open space, but this moody sod wanted us to pay. Which we would of, had he not been such an idiot. We backtracked up to a little cafe and got a drink. The outdoor seating was on a sort of patio and had a panoramic view of the valley and the mountains. We could see everything from here. It was out of this world.

The views had been what we were interested in so we headed back. The walk back was tiring. All up hill! Every local that went past on a motorbike, offered a lift back to town (obviously for a charge) as tempting as it was we declined and carried on walking. We stopped at a little cafe called 'Good Morning Vietnam' for lunch. The owner was such a nice bloke. He asked where we were from and when we said England he replied with "Oh England, so my place is the dogs bollocks!" Some previous English visitors had obviously taught him this! 😂 He had the cutest little boy who was running around with a toy guitar that was playing nursery rhyme tunes on repeat. I ended up playing a sort of game of peek a boo with him as he kept running up behind me, poking me, then hiding.
Sa Pa has been nice. A different view on Vietnam. The cool temperatures and change in weather has also been an unexpected relief. After 8 weeks of heat it's nice to cool off. But now it's back to Hanoi ready to fly to Da Nang.