Last year's end of year trip to Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand spurred something inside of me and turned me into a travel-hungry monster. As soon as I landed back in Sydney after being away for 2 months in South-East Asia, I was already missing the thrill of travelling.
My boyfriend and I travelled with two of our close friends, another couple, to Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand - staying for approx. 2 weeks in each. Everyone always asks me which one I enjoyed the most, but they were just all so different that i couldn't possibly choose (although Hong Kong was easily the least favourite because i've already been there multiple times).
In Japan, we travelled through Tokyo, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Osaka, Nara, Kobe & Kyoto. The highlights of the trip included the Studio Ghibli Museum, Fish Markets, Nara & Peace Memorial Museum - not to mention the food! Oh-my-gawd, did i put on weight in Japan alone or what!
Next was Hong kong which was...the same.
Then Thailand!
Let me start by saying that when we landed in Thailand, we were disappointed. Like majorly. We landed in Bangkok and it took a 2 hour taxi ride to get to our hostel (lucky the cabs there aren't as expensive as Sydneys), where the cab driver then had to get out of the car to help us cross the road because the traffic was so chaotic. Fail. Add this to the fact that the people we saw on the first day were rude, the streets were dirty and i got sick the first night we were there, I was deeply regretting traveling to Thailand.
But i put it all down to culture shock. Because after 2.5 weeks in Thailand, I just didn't want to leave (I still disliked Bangkok afterwards though. First impressions and all). After we arrived in Bangkok, we made our way through Thailand to Ayutthaya, Phitsanalok (the overnight train ride was the most AMAZING experience. I was literally covered in bugs from the open air train) then Chiang Mai (the BEST EXPERIENCE of my life was the 2 day, 1 night tour to the top of the mountain and sleeping in a raised hut with the locals) and finally Phuket for some gorgeous sun!
I think the most surprising thing for me in the end, was that none of us got sick of each other, even after seeing each other 24/7 for two whole months. I think this might've been because we were all friends and there were so many different dynamics between the four of us. We had the couple thing going on, we had the girls/boys thing happening and we also worked really well as a group. It was pretty perfect.
Overall, this trip changed my life and I am so glad I went before i started fulltime work :) Because now it's all i can think about and i'm planning to travel overseas at least once a year - and hopefully work overseas soon as well.
