Coral, kayaking and copious ruins in Honduras

Our next stop was the country of Honduras. Honduras has a bit of dodgy reputation and is often avoided by backpackers. Not us though! We planned three stops, all miles apart from one another and from our last stop in Nicaragua. Getting around in Central America can be done very cheaply by the use of chicken buses, but you end up hopping from town to town and spending the whole day travelling. You can also use tourist shuttles, which are more expensive but faster as they take you from point to point and often pick you up and drop you off at your accommodation.

To get to our next destination of Lake Yojoa we decided to opt for a shuttle. We’d arranged it and booked our accommodation, only to receive a message that the shuttle wasn’t going to go that day and would leave the following day at 2am instead which threw our plans a bit! We scrambled around and eventually got in touch with Big Foot Hostel in Leon who were running one leaving at 4am so we booked that instead. Imagine our absolute delight when a huge minibus turned up for what turned out to be just the two of us! They helped us with the necessary paperwork at the border and we sped to the town of La Guama where they dropped us at the side of the road for us to catch another bus. It was a Sunday and when a mototaxi blasting Bob Marley stopped for us we hopped in that!

We stayed at D&D Brewery close to the lake and had a hot shower for the first time in a good few weeks. We’d actually gotten so used to cold showers that we both complained it was too hot. Who would have thought? The following day we went for a walk through the nearby Ecological park, a jungle on the edge of the lake. It was a well paved track where we spotted many birds. The setting was beautiful and I think one of my favourite walks that we have done on this travels.

The next day we set off at 5.30am to go on a birdwatching tour on the lake, we were in a tiny rowing boat being rowed down the canal towards the lake and spotted several species, including some toucans flying above us. It was a beautiful start to the day. After the tour we hired a kayak and kayaked the same route to the lake, spotting several jumping fish. It was incredibly hot so we decided to head towards some rocks at the edge of the lake where there was some shade. We had just stopped when we both spotted at the same time the biggest spider that we’ve ever seen, the leg span was bigger than our heads and we both quickly decided that we actually we were fine and didn’t need any shade!

Our next stop was going to be one of the Bay islands off the Caribbean coast, we opted for Roatan rather than the usual backpacker haunt of Utila. We got up early again and left at 5.15am to get the 5.30am chicken bus to San Pedro Sula. We’d arrived at the bus stop and within 3 seconds the bus pulled up! San Pedro Sula was, until 2016, the ‘murder capital’ of the world. Thankfully we were just passing through. We managed to book a connecting bus to La Ceiba for about 45 minutes after we arrived so we didn’t need to spend too long there. As with all of Honduras there are a lot of armed police and guards. Outside petrol stations you will see men with huge machine guns or shotguns. Whilst unnerving at first, it actually led to us feeling pretty safe. Before boarding the bus to La Ceiba all our hand luggage was checked and our bags scanned with a metal detector. We arrived into La Ceiba around 1.30pm, walked 15 minutes to a bus stop where we could catch a bus to the ferry port. We noticed that on this bus the guy collecting money let vendors on but would keep the door shut preventing any unwanted guests from boarding. Once at the ferry port we had a bit of time before our ferry so we grabbed some rice and beans for lunch. There was free WiFi at the terminal so we did some research about how to get to our hostel and whilst doing this I kept reading that the crossing was notoriously rough. I got a little nervous thinking back to my longtail boat experience in Thailand. However I didn’t expect to be handed a sick bag once we boarded the ferry which really got me worried! Thankfully the crossing was absolutely fine, it was a little bit wavy but I wouldn’t say it was anything out of the ordinary and it definitely didn’t need a sick bag. Arriving into Roatan port we were greeted by two huge cruise ships which were quite the sight – one of them even had a rollercoaster on the top deck! We eventually reached our accommodation at 7pm – a very long day.

The next few days were spent relaxing on different beaches. The first day we stuck close to our hostel but the following days we ventured out to West Bay where there is a coral reef off shore offering snorkelling opportunities. To get there you can take a 5 minute water taxi for $5 per person each way or you can scramble over rocks and beaches for an hour. Obviously we decided to scramble over rocks (it saved us $40 over the two days!).

There was a large school of fish very close to the beach that just surrounded us when we waded into the sea, they got so close to us and one even nipped us both! The next day we hired snorkelling equipment and swam out to the reef. We saw lots of beautiful fish, including plenty of parrot fish and a fish that was shaped like a triangle! At a few points the coral finishes and you’re left with a very deep patch of ocean going down to the sea bed, here the water is so clear and so blue and it was just stunning to see.

We were heading to Copan Ruinas next and it looked like a long journey involving a few buses so we got in touch with my new best friends, Big Foot, again to arrange a shuttle from La Ceiba to Copan Ruinas. They offered one at 2pm and our ferry was due to arrive at 12.30pm so it all worked ok. Only the afternoon before we were due to leave I got an email to say that they’d cancelled our ferry and we now had to get the 6.30am one! This meant leaving our hostel at 5am to get to the port on time. We also had to hang around for 6 hours! The ferry over to La Ceiba was a good journey but again we were handed sick bags, I did notice it more on this journey but was fine as long as I kept my eye on the horizon! We disembarked at 8am and hung around the port for an hour using the free WiFi. We then got a bus to the meeting point of Wendy’s. We didn’t want to spend 5 hours there though so we went to small nearby cafe where we nursed a couple of cups of coffee and a slice of cake. We then moved to Pizza Hut when we got a text saying that the shuttle would pick us up an hour earlier- result! When it arrived we couldn’t believe it when it was just the two of us again! Having the space to spread out definitely makes these long journeys easier.

Copan Ruinas was our last stop in Honduras and the sole reason to visit was for the Mayan ruins. We arrived just after opening at 8am and we had the place to ourselves for about 90 minutes. The ruins are known for their hieroglyphic staircase which is really impressive but under a canopy now so you’re not able to get the full impression of it. There are also many Stelas which are statues of the leaders in days gone by. The leaders all have absolutely ridiculous names such as Waterlily Jaguar and Smoke Monkey which really made us laugh.

Near to the ruins is a bird rehabilitation centre and once the birds are recovered their food is supplemented at the ruins meaning that you get lots of scarlet macaws in the ground who nest in the bird houses and feed in the grounds. They are such colourful, beautiful birds but the thing that astonished us the most was how big they are!

Overall we really enjoyed our time in Honduras and felt really safe there. With public transport being a bit of a pain we can see why people avoid it but we’re glad that we didn’t.

March 30, 2024 0

Nicaragua – volcanoes, islands and colonial highlands

Crossing from Costa Rica to Nicaragua was our first independent border crossing for a while and it was a mighty travel day. Our first bus left La Fortuna at 6am to take us 8km to El Tanque, there we had to wait over an hour for our bus to the border, Penas Blancas. The bus was supposed to be direct but after two hours we were told to change buses. The next bus was extremely crowded but as we’d been on the previous bus we were allowed to board first, ensuring our seat. We reached the border and we’d paid our exit tax for Costa Rica online so we were able to get across the border on foot pretty quickly. From the Nicaraguan side we faced catching two buses, or one bus and a taxi to the ferry port, Joey however flexed his expert taxi negotiating skills and got a great price to take us straight to the port at San Jorge. There we had an hour wait for the ferry, then an hour’s ferry ride to the volcanic island of Ometepe.

Our journey wasn’t over yet though as we needed to get to the other side of the island which involved a tuk tuk ride, only about halfway through the clutch went on the tuk tuk so the driver had to call his friend to come and pick us up! All in all in took about 13 hours to make it to our hostel.

Ometepe sits in Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America, has two volcanoes and is incredibly scenic; there are banana plantations everywhere and the two volcanoes can be seen from everywhere. We started our day by hiring a scooter and going to do some kayaking on the lake. We spotted lots of birds, all really close to us as well as some small alligators, I wasn’t that keen on getting too close to them but they were cool to see. We scootered around some of the island finishing at a nature reserve where you could take a short hike and a dip in the lake which was a nice way to end the day.

The following day we went to Ojo de agua, we thought these were hot springs but it was actuallly a nice natural swimming pool but definitely not hot! The surroundings were beautiful and it was a pleasant way to spend the hot morning.

The natural swimming pool – it was not the hot spring we were expecting!

From Ometepe we were heading to Granada, we took a taxi to the port again, sharing a taxi with another couple from the UK who were also heading to Granada. We chatted to them on the ferry and then rather than take two buses, Joey negotiated another great rate with a taxi to take the four of us all the way to Granada!

Granada was a beautiful small colonial town, the buildings were colourful and there seemed to be a great atmosphere about the place. It’s super hot when the sun is out but come the evening everyone takes their rocking chairs out onto the pavements, it was amazing to see and we definitely fancy getting a rocking chair now!

We spent a day exploring the churches and a museum before the next day going to a Laguna which used to be a volcano crater! You book a shuttle with a hostel and then have a day pass to the Laguna where you have free access to a kayak as well as tractor tyres inner tubes to bob about on the lake- a very pleasant way to pass the time!

We then headed to Leon and had hoped that the couple we’d met in Ometepe would leave the same day as us so we could share another taxi but they told us the night before that they were going to spend a night in the capital so we were forced to use our first bit of public transport in Nicaragua!

Everyone we’d spoke to and all the blogs we’d read actually rated Leon above Granada, but we didn’t feel it. The small area around the cathedral was nice but overall we much preferred Granada.

The cathedral is the largest in Central America and you can walk on the domed white roof which was stunning, but otherwise we found the city quite dirty and underwhelming. Our hostel didn’t help the situation as our bathroom was separated from the bedroom by a shower curtain, and you had to walk downstairs and along a corridor to switch on a pump to allow you a decent enough water flow to take a shower or indeed flush the toilet!

We went out to a local beach on the pacific coast on a chicken bus which was quite the experience, it was packed to the rafters and had a beach toy vendor on board as well as someone selling pizza slices fresh out of a box! The beach was pleasant but extremely hot, as was the whole of Leon. There was a small shaded area where you could rent a hammock which we did, definitely what I Imagined travelling life to be like – hammocks on a beach!

We were able to catch up with our new friends from Ometepe again, but here our paths divide as we’re taking the less trodden path through Honduras and they’re heading straight to El Salvador where we’re hoping we might cross paths again.

We really enjoyed Nicaragua and appreciated the lower prices. We’re in our final four weeks so it’s now a case of really ensuring that we enjoy this last bit of time travelling and to us that means treating ourselves well, spending a bit more on accommodation and eating out. We can diet when we’re home!

March 21, 2024 0

Costa Rica Costa Lota

We cheated a little bit to get into Costa Rica and opted for a shuttle to whizz us over the border. It was pretty straightforward and the only annoying thing, which is going to become a thing in Central America, was having to pay an exit fee to leave Panama!

We’d heard lots of stories about how strict Costa Rica was for checking proof of onward travel so we went prepared but they barely batted an eyelid at us,

Our first stop was Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast. The town itself seemed a bit run down, it rained a lot every night and our hostel had definitely seen better days. Our room was tucked in the corner of a dorm and the bathroom smelt like sewage. We don’t often complain but I did this time and was told it was a town problem.

We spent some time on the beach enjoying the clear Caribbean sea, but our favourite thing was a short walk through the jungle to another beach. During this walk we saw our first sloth and it was magical. Later that day we saw one further down in the tree and he turned his head to us and it definitely looked as though he was smiling right at us! We also saw howler monkeys, and well, they howl a lot.

We took a bus out to Cahuita national park, where we saw more sloths and most exciting, a raccoon. This little fella was incredibly naughty as he hopped on a table to steal someone’s lunch!

We then headed to the capital San Jose for a couple of days. I was still recovering from my latest bout of a bad stomach and I really wanted some comfort, my own bathroom and no pressure to do anything. San Jose definitely answered its calling and all we did was a quick walk around. Our favourite thing was watching some pigeons take a shower in the fountains.

We then headed down to Manuel Antonio, said to be Costa Rica’s most popular national park. We had to book tickets online and I could only get a 10am slot, but that turned out to be just fine. There are beaches inside and outside the park so we spent one day at a beach outside the park and the next day in the park. There are several trails you can do and you can hire a guide to help you spot wildlife, this isn’t something that we did and we still managed to spot plenty of things, including a sloth and her baby! We saw three different types of monkeys, including some very naughty white faced capuchins. They were in a tree on a beach and all of a sudden made a beeline for our bag, and the side pocket. They took out the cover of our beach towel and threw it on the ground and I realised that there was a bottle of hand sanitizer in the pocket. What is it with monkeys and hand sanitizer? Were we about to get mugged by a monkey again?! Thankfully he then spotted a carton of coconut water elsewhere and left us to it! We would highly recommend Manuel Antonio to anyone in Costa Rica, you’re not allowed to take any food in with you and there is a cafe area within the park for you to eat and this time it’s humans who are in the cage!

From Manuel Antonio we were heading all the way to Monteverde, a mammoth journey, we had to take one bus from our hostel to Quepos, from there another bus to Puntaarenas and there we waited for 4 hours for our connecting bus. We found a cafe and they didn’t mind us camping out for the 4 hours. We enjoyed coffee, juice, lunch and a massive traditional ice cream called a Churchill. Whilst we were waiting at Quepos two red parrots flew over our heads which was amazing to see.

Monteverde is another cloud forest. If you don’t know, a cloud forest is a rainforest but at higher altitude. We went straight to the tourist information to book a couple of tours and then on their recommendation headed to a viewpoint just outside of town to watch sunset. The sunset wasn’t anything to write home about but the surrounding views of the hills and forests were magnificent.

The following day we got up early to catch a bus to the Monteverde Cloud Forest and take part in a bird watching tour. We were in a small group of 4 and our guide was very knowledgeable, spotting straightaway the elusive resplendent quetzal bird that everyone wants to see. We were very lucky and spotted a few that day so we were able to see it in flight and resting in the tree. The male’s long tail feathers were quite magnificent. Joey was on photography duty as usual, saw something move, snapped it, showed our guide who was so impressed that he’d managed to spot a Toucanet before him! We spotted various other birds including a black faced solitaire whose song sounds like a rusty gate, it was beautiful! We also saw a hummingbird in a nest which was amazing to see.

After our tour finished we headed back into the forest to complete a few more trails and saw a large family of coatis. We also headed to the continental divide, we couldn’t see much due to cloud cover but what was interesting was the difference in temperature only a few metres apart. On your left side you have the cool of the Caribbean and then on your right side you can feel the humidity of the Pacific.

That evening the wind really started to pick up and then the rain started, it didn’t really stop the next day and it meant that we couldn’t do anything we wanted. We’d planned to visit the Santa Elena cloud forest but it was far too windy for that. Then we tried to walk to another rainforest and had to turn around as conditions were so bad. We had booked a night jungle walk but didn’t see much as it was so wet and windy. We saw a few birds, a rabbit, a tarantula, a tiny toad and I spotted a salamander. Our guide was way ahead of us when we called him back and he told us it was really rare to see one so I was very pleased with my spot! I think maybe Joey and I should become wildlife guides?

From Monteverde we took the Jeep-boat-Jeep option to La Fortuna. It’s not a jeep anymore, just a shuttle van on bumpy roads to the lake, a boat and then another shuttle. It was quite picturesque and we saw a beautiful rainbow en route. We enjoyed the trip over the lake, it felt like a sightseeing activity rather than a travel day!

The weather didn’t show much sign of improving in La Fortuna, we had two solid days of rain upon arrival and just spent the time sheltering in our room! We booked a tour for our last day as the forecast looked the least worst! Thankfully the day stayed dry. We started off the day at La Fortuna waterfall. You have to climb 500 steps to the base of the waterfall and then climb back up those 500 steps but it was worth it. Having been to Iguazu Falls in 2015 it takes a lot for a waterfall to impress us, and I’m happy to say that La Fortuna impressed us. The jungle setting really made it.

From there we headed to Arenal volcano which was active between 1968 and 2010. We hiked through jungle here to reach the base. We never saw the top of the volcano as it was cloudy but we saw maybe 90% of it. En route we saw a turtle which was super cute, especially when he took a little tumble down the hill! After this we headed to the hanging bridges – a set of 6 suspension bridges in the jungle. After my experience with the suspension bridge in Taiwan you may be wondering why I thought this would be a good idea! Well, in the Monteverde cloud forest there was one hanging bridge and I crossed it without too much thought so I thought I’d push myself out my comfort zone and do these. It was a lovely walk through the jungle, the first bridge was one of the highest and probably the scariest for me, but as time went on I grew more confident until I was practically skipping along the final one. We saw a few bits of wildlife along the way including two sleeping owls.

Our last port of call for the day was a hot river. Not a hot spring but a river! It was quite shallow but hot so a very nice way to finish. It was just the getting out and dressed again that was the hardest part!

It was a lovely way to spend our last day in Costa Rica, we really enjoyed the country and all the amazing wildlife it offered. I would have liked to visit a couple of other national parks but for one reason or another we couldn’t, so maybe we’ll revisit st another point to do those!

So was Costa Rica as expensive as everyone had told us? Yes, I dubbed it Costa Rica Costa Lota. I would say that prices were similar to UK prices, we didn’t eat out much at all, we cooked for ourselves and groceries were expensive! A small (200g) bag of pasta cost £1 and we properly eked out our toothpaste to avoid paying $6 for a tube! However we did manage to stay within our overall budget, buses weren’t too expensive, we didn’t drink alcohol and whilst we splashed on accommodation, to get a private bathroom after Puerto Viejo it was manageable by being mindful.

March 17, 2024 2

Panama: one canal, two hats and three islands

As I mentioned in my last blog we had to cut short this leg so we flew from Buenos Aires up to Panama City. We stayed in the old city and spent a day exploring that part. There were several churches, including St Joseph’s, whose most famous story involves the gold covered baroque altar. Legend has it that when the pirate Henry Morgan ransacked Panama City the priest painted the altar black to disguise it, told Morgan that it had already been stolen and persuaded Morgan to make a donation to replace it. Morgan is then famously said to have said: ‘I don’t know but I think you’re more of a pirate than I am’.

Whilst the altar is beautiful, the most astonishing thing about the church was the incredible nativity scene that it hosts in the back of the church. It was huge and had so many different scenes and figures. We were breathtaken with just how much detail had gone into it. There were 17 different scenes from Mary visiting Elizabeth, to Joseph’s dream, to the shepherds and the annunciation in the temple. It was astonishing just how much effort had gone into putting it together and we enjoyed going back a second time to appreciate it again.

The nativity scene in St Joseph’s Church

Whilst we were in Panama City Joey couldn’t resist buying. Panama hat. I didn’t know that these hats were actually made in Ecuador, but were made famous by the gold rush, when the miners wore them when they traveled overland to Panama. Joey looked so good in his I had to run out the next day to buy one for myself!

The following day we went out to see the Panama Canal. We timed our visit for the afternoon so we could see the ships crossing. They cross one direction in the morning and the other in the afternoon. It was difficult to find accurate times online so we had to take a bit of a guess when we arrived. As it happened we were waiting for a while, mainly as the ships were late arriving! The exhibition halls were shut which was a shame but there was still information available and a bilingual commentator gave various facts and figures during the afternoon. Firstly three sailing yachts passed through, tethered together followed by a large container ship which only had two feet of space either side. Vessels that sail through the canal are piloted through the canal by specialist canal pilots. It was fascinating to see them open the locks and to see the ships fall with the water levels. It’s a slow process but very enjoyable. There’s an imax cinema on site as well where you can watch a film about the history of the canal narrated by Morgan Freeman. The canal was a definite highlight, but only because we got to see some ships navigate their way through. It would have been nice to see if there hadn’t been any ships but that definitely added to it!

From Panama City we headed up to the Cloud Forest and to Boquete. It took all day to get there but it went pretty smoothly. We had booked a hostel but were staying in a tent, the tent itself was comfy with actual mattresses inside to aid a good night’s sleep! The rest of the guests contained some characters, including a European couple, of which the male half smelt as though he’d never seen a bar of soap in his life! This led to some other guests complaining and a very heated row with the owner in the kitchen! They then left the hostel in a huff, at 10pm, but before they left they ensured that they pushed the button lock on the bathroom closed so that no one could use the bathroom. It was quite the act of pettiness that was still making us laugh days later. I have so many unanswered questions about this couple – they had their own tiny tent, how was she able to stand the smell? Where did they go at 10pm? So much to unpack!

During our time in Boquete we did the Pianist hike, a hike that steadily climbs through the cloud forest to the top of the mountain. It was picturesque at the start as we meandered through rolling pastures beside a stream. Then we entered the forest and the cloud descended and it felt as though we were in the cloud as we cut through gorges and climbed our way through masses of mud, slipping and sliding as we went. We eventually reached the top, not before reaching the biggest patch of mud and me having the biggest tantrum as I became very acquainted with it.

Once we reached the top there wasn’t a lot to see in the cloud, the only thing actually marking the top was a cross dedicated to two Dutch girls who went missing and died on the trail in 2014. Their deaths remain a mystery and since we hiked the same trail we’ve started listening to a podcast about it and are both in agreement that we’re not sure we would have done it if we’d listened to the podcast before going!

One long walk was enough for us so we spent the rest of our time mooching around town. We then headed over to the Caribbean side, to a place called Bocas Del Toro. This is an archipelago and you must travel 30 minutes in a speedboat to reach the main island. Obviously I’ve had bad experiences with boats in choppy waters on these travels, but actually I quite enjoyed this sailing! We went so fast I could almost feel the g force against my face. We arrived safely, checked in and then got a water taxi over to another island to go to a beach.

Bocas was a beautiful place, with super clear water, lovely soft sand and beautiful palm trees. Unfortunately for us the only sunny day we had was the day we arrived! The following day was cloudy with heavy rain forecast in the afternoon. We headed out to Wizard beach on Isla Bastimentos, again getting a water taxi followed by a short hike through the jungle. We were super pleased and surprised when the boat driver stopped the boat enroute to pick up litter from the ocean. You don’t get that in a lot of places! We headed back just as it started to drizzle. Once we were back it poured it down and didn’t stop for almost 24 hours. When it eventually did stop we caught a bus out to Starfish beach, a beach famous for, believe it or not, the number of starfish on the beach! It was beautiful to wade into the water and see a large number of them. They are hard to photograph but worth going to see. It surprised us how large they were, just sitting in the sea doing their thing.

Starfish at Starfish beach and beautiful beaches

The following day I woke up sick as a dog. My stomach had been bad since Boquete but this was next level so we took me off to a pharmacist and got me some antibiotics. I’m not usually one for seeking out help for my stomach and generally believe in riding the storm out but this felt like I needed help! I was feeling pretty sorry for myself and spent the day resting.

Panama on the whole was enjoyable, I’m still feeling a little on edge after the bag incident but trying to relax a bit more and go with it. Our next leg is Costa Rica and all I hear from people is how beautiful but expensive it is so I’m nervous and intrigued by that! We backpacked Japan on a budget so I’m sure we can manage Costa Rica.

March 2, 2024 0

The start of Voyage 3.1 – red wine, rump steaks and ransacked bags

Our stop at home was very brief, a chance to catch up with a few people and change our clothes and bags! This leg is going to be slightly shorter than we had originally intended but this means that we will be in constant hot weather so it is a good opportunity to downsize the bags!

We flew direct to Santiago, Chile, landing on a Sunday morning, we headed to our apartment and after a quick Power Nap and a shower we headed straight out to explore the city. This was our third time in Santiago, having first visited in 2014, then again in 2018, so it was a chance to revisit some favourite places and to refine our backpacking feet after a very easy time in Thailand.

Our first stop was Santa Lucia, a popular hill in the middle of the city with a lovely view. It was a very hot climb but worth it when we reached the top. The following day we visited the General Cemetery, this is a huge area and has lots of interesting graves, with mausoleums dedicated to various groups such as the police and fire brigade. There is also an area for children’s graves which is also brightly decorated with toys. We have heard from previous visits about the tradition of parents to leave invitations to birthday parties on the other children’s graves and the thought of this always makes me emotional each time we visit.

After this we headed to a famous restaurant and had a massive plate of La Chorrilana, a traditional Chilean dish consisting of chips, fried onions, meat and fried eggs. It’s delicious and we washed it down with a Terramoto cocktail – a strong drink of wine, grenadine all topped with pineapple ice cream! It’s so named as Terramoto means earthquake and you’re meant to feel the earth shake after you’ve drunk it!

The following day was spent at San Cristobel hill, this is a very special place to us as it’s actually where we got engaged in 2018. We decided to walk rather than take the cable car or funicular and it’s safe two hours later when we eventually reached the top, we regretted our decision! There is a gorgeous view of the city from the top though and it was lovely to go back.

We caught a bus to Mendoza, a trip which takes you through the Andes. The trip involves some stunning scenery as you zig zag your way to the top. The border of Chile and Argentina is actually at the top of the Andes and we saw a lot of that border point as we were there for four hours! This is the longest that we’ve ever spent at a border point. There were strikes in Argentina that day and we think that may have had something to do with it. We actually got through the passport check really quickly, it was waiting for the bag check that took so long. By the time our turn came the bus driver whipped out a cup, everyone chucked a few pesos in and we were underway pretty quickly! We were grateful to eventually arrive in our hostel just in time for a free wine hour!

Photos of our trip through the Andes, including the masses of buses behind us

Mendoza is famous for its wine, and there are over 1000 wineries in the region, so it would be rude not to do a wine tour. We arranged one through our hostel where we visited three vineyards and sampled 10 different wines. By the end they were all starting to merge into one! The majority were red as the region is famous for its Malbec, but there were a couple of whites thrown in as well as a fizzy red. It was a fun afternoon, learning more about the wines, how to store and how to serve them properly at room temperature. For example, did you know that they recommend you refrigerate your red for 15 minutes just prior to serving to bring it to the correct temperature? We also visited an olive oil factory and learnt how olive oil was made. When we visited Mendoza in 2014 we had taken part in a tour that involved cycling between vineyards but it seems that is no longer offered as a separate tour unless you want to pay $200. You can hire a bike yourself and do a self-guided tour which we would have like to have done but Mendoza was experiencing a heatwave when we were there and cycling and drinking alcohol in 37 degrees heat didn’t seem like a sensible option!

Mendoza has clearly undergone a lot of renovations and improvements since we were last there. The bus station no longer felt sketchy and was a lot more modern, even the beautiful plazas seemed even more beautiful. It’s a lovely city with wide streets and lots of plazas and we thoroughly enjoyed our brief stop here.

It was then time for a night bus to Buenos Aires. Buses in South America are generally really comfy and I’ve always been able to sleep well on them and the one to Buenos Aires was no exception. We arrived around 9am and headed straight to our hotel to drop our bags. Upon arrival at the hotel I realised that the bag padlocks on my bag were missing. On the walk to the hotel I’d also noticed that my straps were no longer done up as I had left them and I commented to Joey that was strange. I immediately knew that someone to had broken into my bag. I opened the bag and could see that my cosmetic bags had been opened. I was devastated. We have backpacked for almost two years in total and this is the first time that something like this has happened.

When you’re backpacking you don’t have a lot of belongings and your bag is your home so this honestly felt like a violation of privacy and as though I had been burgled. Someone had broken into my bag and gone through all my belongings. All they found was my dirty laundry and some tampons so they will have gone away feeling disappointed but I can’t tell you how upset I felt. I think I cried for at least an hour, threatened to get on the next flight home and basically had a breakdown in the hotel lobby.

My padlocks. The robber went to the effort of putting them back in my bag!

I did eventually manage to calm down and go and enjoy Buenos Aires but it did put a dampener on Argentina, which was a real shame as it’s a country we love so much. The Argentinian economy is doing really badly at the moment and they have suffered massive inflation, to the point that half the country is in poverty so I can only put it down to some desperate person thinking my padlocked bag must hold something special in it. Maybe there’s a lesson there – if you padlock your bag it looks appealing? Joey’s bag, unpadlocked and containing our camera was untouched!

We had a good walk around the city revisiting our old haunts such as The Pink House and the Recoleta cemetery. This is where Evita’s grave is and we were shocked to arrive and discover that for the last two years they have been charging an entrance fee! The cemetery is much smaller than the one in Santiago and is home to a few famous graves such as Evita and many presidents.

There is also a statue of a woman in her wedding dress and her dog which is our favourite, and I love to take a picture of Joey standing next to her! This grave is of Liliana Crociati de Szaszak who sadly died in an avalanche in Austria.

Our other favourite thing to do in Buenos Aires (other than eat steak and drink wine) is to visit the El Ateneo bookstore. This used to be a theatre and is still styled as such. It’s a beautiful building and worth a stop.

We also really enjoy visiting Cafe Tortoni, this is an art deco style cafe and they serve cider in champagne glasses here, but we decided at 13,000 pesos (£13) we wouldn’t be partaking this time when we could buy the same bottle in a shop for 2,000 pesos!

It was nice to be back in Chile and Argentina, these countries hold very special memories for us as we started our backpacking adventures in Buenos Aires in 2014 and we don’t get to go back that often. We had planned to spend 7 weeks exploring Patagonia, northern Argentina and Paraguay but as I mentioned earlier we have had to change our plans and shorten this leg but we will be back to do this and I can’t wait! I will not let one bad experience mar our time here and I will not let it put me off returning.

February 8, 2024 1

From Cambodia to Thailand, the end of part one of Voyage 3.0

Resting, lost rings and more border crossings!

Our journey from Laos to Cambodia was just as arduous as the ones within Laos. There was a boat trip across the Mekong, a short bus ride to the border, a border crossing (not that scammy though given that we were going into Cambodia and have had past experience here with border scams), a long wait, another bus ride, another long wait and a final bus ride to Phnom Penh!

We visited Cambodia 9 years ago and ticked off the major sites then so this was a chance to visit a couple of new places on our way back to Thailand.

We left Phnom Penh almost as quickly as we arrived, lasting about 13 hours before we hopped on a bus to Kampot. Kampot is on an estuary and we took the opportunity to hire a Kayak and we had a very peaceful and beautiful kayak through some palm fronds. It was an highlight for us and felt so relaxing. We hardly saw anyone else and it was a good workout for the shoulders!

We took it very gently in Kampot and the only other activity we did was a sunset cruise along the Mekong. You get to see the sunset and also some fireflies in the trees. We enjoyed this so much we actually did it two nights in a row!

After Kampot we went to Koh Rong, an island off the Cambodia coast. We took a bus to the pier and the road was as bad as the ones in Laos – it was so rough for an hour it was impossible to read or do anything else! We had a long wait for our speedboat and I have to confess that my patience was running out.

Koh Rong had some nice beaches to chill on but the island itself felt a little grotty. There was rubbish everywhere (I know it’s a remote island but there has to be some better way to clear waste than letting it all pile up) as well as frequent power cuts. The power cuts made it impossible to go back to your accommodation during the day as it was too hot.

This is the only photo I took in Koh Rong

We only spent a week in Cambodia before heading back to Thailand. We woke on the morning of departure to a strong wind and with strong wind comes choppy seas! Our speedboat was flying through the waves and what goes up must apparently slam back into the waves with a force. I felt that I was getting whiplash from being thrown around so much, everyone was holding on for dear life and my stomach was getting churned up. I felt like kissing the ground when we safely made it to shore an hour later. We took a bus to the border and it stopped a couple of times for comfort breaks (with actual toilets – how novel!) but the driver wasn’t great at checking that everyone was back and drove off twice missing passengers! This is my worst nightmare and I was happy to see that everyone was looking out for each other to ensure we were all present. We had to change buses at the border before changing again at Trat for a Songthew. If you don’t know, a Songthew is a pick up truck with a couple of benches in the back, comfortable enough for a short journey, not ideal for a long 45 minute ride to the pier. There was a group of 6 of us heading to Koh Chang so we all stuck together and we were glad we did as we were abandoned at the pier! We asked about the next ferry and were fobbed off before the staff disappeared! One guy abandoned the rest of the group to buy his own ferry ticket but the rest of us were not having it so we protested to the ferry staff before they made a phone call and someone turned up with our tickets! It was a long journey but great to be back on a Thai island.

Koh Chang was very peaceful and restful, the beach was secluded and lovely and we enjoyed some gorgeous sunsets, our last beach sunsets in Asia! We’ve been used to seeing small geckos throughout Asia but here we had Tokay geckos outside our room and they are huge! They are about 30 centimetres long and we had a Mr and Mrs right outside our room.

We headed to Bangkok and for once a very uneventful journey – one bus the whole way, the only thing of note being how many times the driver stopped for fuel and to top up the tyres with air!

We had a brief overnight stop in Khao San Road again before heading to our favourite beach, Cha Am. We spent 2.5 weeks here chilling, hanging with Joey’s family over Christmas and New Year. It was a brilliant way to spend our last couple of weeks of this leg of travels. The days merged into one as we chilled on the beach, topping up tans and planning the next leg of our journey.

Nothing much happens in Cha Am, just the way we like it. Except for one day when it all happened!

We were enjoying a swim in the sea when we saw this horse with a young woman on galloping along the beach and being completely out of control! The poor horse had been spooked by a dog and was running all over the place, rearing up with the girl trying to hang on to him! She made it further down the beach before she tried to get off when the horse decided it had had enough and. just dumped her off into the sand. Luckily she wasn’t injured and landed in soft sand but as it looked scary from where we were I can imagine she must have been quite scared.

Then I took my wedding rings off (they are fake ones) to put some suncream on and somehow without noticing knocked them into the sand. I spent ages sat on the sand digging through trying to find them! I borrowed a rake from the people we hire our sunbeds from but had no luck. Then she suggested calling the ‘machine man’ who owns a metal detector to get him to come and look for them. He only charges if he finds them, so he turned up and managed to find them! I think I paid more for the metal detector man than the rings were worth but they are quite sentimental!

Then just when we thought things had settled down the wind really picked up and a little fishing boat broke free and was sailing down the beach front quite a distance on its own – almost like a ghost ship! Eventually a man started to drag it back up the beach before its owner came to rescue it. Cha Am is normally a very peaceful place so for these things to all happen within a couple of hours was quite exciting.

Cha Am has a forest park and we headed there one morning to see wild gibbons, they hang out in the trees there and it was fantastic to see them in the wild swinging from tree to tree.

We headed back to Bangkok for a final stop before flying back to the UK. This is not the end of our travels, just a little rest before we head to the other other side of the world. It will be a welcome opportunity to change our clothes and eat some cheese!

January 31, 2024 0

Not loving Laos!

Our first impressions of Laos from the two small towns on the Mekong had been very positive. And when we arrived into Luang Prabang, a UNESCO world heritage town famous for its temples, this continued. We arrived around 6pm and once checked in we headed straight back out to the night market. Unfortunately we arrived on a day when there were no food stalls! So we perused the craft stalls before finding food elsewhere.

The next day we set off on a walk round town heading to the Ethno museum, which had some interesting displays on the ethnic tribes of Laos and a chance to have a go at making a Taleo, which we really struggled with – it was hilarious trying to follow what seemed like simple instructions, but we kind of got there in the end!

We climbed a large hill which had an amazing view of the city, lots of Buddhas on the way up and also a Buddha footprint housed in a tiny shrine. In the same manner as the one in Sri Lanka we saw a few years ago, this was huge! I don’t know if Buddha was a giant but he sure had big feet!

Later on we visited Xiang Thong Wat which housed a huge funeral carriage as well as a beautiful reclining Buddha and a stunning glided depiction of village life.

The following day we rose early to witness the alms giving to the monks, this is a very famous activity to do in Luang Prabang and there is an option to join in if you wish, which a lot of Chinese tourists did do. Unfortunately this also meant that they were in the monks faces taking photos instead of quietly observing from a distance. It was a beautiful sight to witness all the saffron robed monks quietly walking the streets and I’m glad we made the effort to get up early to do so.

We then headed to the Royal Palace and we were then about 10 minutes after opening at 8am and just managed to get ahead of a very large tour group! The palace was very understated and almost just like a big house rather than the palace you might expect! There was a large collection of royal cars which was quite fun as they all dated from the 70s as well as a beautiful gold Buddha.

That afternoon we went and played some crazy golf which was in a British guy’s back garden! It was very random but he had built a course in his backyard. The course was pretty rickety with some of the holes almost unplayable due to the tree roots but it was good fun.

The following day we caught the bus to Phonsavan, home to the Plain of Jars. We’d booked the bus tickets through our hostel and the owner had sent us off with a warning about the bus and the condition of the roads and with a warning not to leave her a bad review because of the journey! With the phrase ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you!’ ringing in our ears we were prepared mentally for a terrible journey. The journey itself? Well, it sort of set the scene for the rest of our travel days in Laos.

The bus was a minivan, which is quite standard, but in the aisles were beer crates, with half a cushion on – so people were clearly expected to sit on these for 7 hours and they were determined to cram in as many people as possible.

As soon as we left Luang Prabang the road condition deteriorated – the road became unsealed, meaning it was incredibly bumpy and very, very dusty! For most of the journey the plants along the roadside were grey as they were covered in the dust from the road. Then there were the potholes. You have never seen such large pot holes and so many of them! At times in the journey it felt like the road was still under construction and we had to stop once whilst they lay the road in front of us. Then there was the toilet situation. We stopped a few times for a bathroom break, only the bathroom was the side of the road! All the men lined up along the roadside and the few women on the bus scurried into the bushes to find some sort of privacy. Every journey took about twice as long as he should, partly due to the these conditions but also because every Laos driver seems incapable of driving for more than 30 minutes without stopping! They seem to act as DPD drivers, regularly stopping to pick up and drop off letters and parcels! Then there are the sellers who cram on at every opportunity to sell spatchcock chicken on a stick!

We’d originally planned to get a night bus to Vietiniane from Phonsavan but after about 30 minutes of pot holes I decided that perhaps doing this in the dark wasn’t the wisest decision!

We eventually arrived into Phonsavan a bit bruised and shaken but in one piece and we arranged with our host to do a tour to the Plain of Jars with his wife (the only female guide of the area) the next day.

The Plain of Jars are several sites made up of large stone jars, more or less completely intact. Laos is the world’s most heavily bombed country per capita and therefore the site was only cleared of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) in very recent times. It was declared a UNESCO site in 2019. No one is 100% certain of the purpose of the jars, but the main idea seems to be that they were used for burial purposes. There are also suggestions and myths that maybe they were used for wine storage- I like this idea and quite fancy a giant stone jar full of wine.

The sites themselves are a wonder, the first one is in the middle of nowhere and contains over 100 jars. Site 1 is the largest and most popular site, but even when we were there it wasn’t overly busy. We also visited sites 2 and 3 which both had beautiful settings. Site 2 was in a woods and to access site 3 you have to walk through rice paddies. It was a very peaceful and pleasant day. I’d wanted to visit the Plain of Jars ever since I read about them a few years ago and I am glad we made the effort despite the journey, it was a Laos highlight for sure.

We also visited the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) office to learn about how the UXO is being cleared. Every day new bombs are found and a visit here certainly made me more wary about where I put my foot when going for those bus bathroom breaks!

The next day we decided to try and make our way back to the Mekong, to Thakek. We had to catch a bus to Paksan and then hope for a connection from there. We caught the 6.30am bus and our host was saying that there was a chance we would miss the connecting bus. The first bus journey was long and arduous again but it wasn’t full so we were able to spread out a little. We waited about 15 minutes for the next bus so I think we’d been spun a line there! As we weren’t sure if we were going to make it that night we hadn’t book any accommodation. I asked a tuk tuk to take us to a hostel I’d read about it but upon arrival there was no room at the inn. Luckily he had a friend with a room and he called him – he was our hero as he even came to pick us up on his motorbike! I went first and when I arrived there was loud music blaring and I immediately thought I’d made a terrible mistake and booked us into a party hostel! I have to say though the owners were great and every night Nico (the guy with the bike) hosts a briefing for people who want to do to the Thakek loop. The loop sounds great with amazing scenery and caves and waterfalls, but honestly? Having done two long bus journeys there was no way we were getting back on those bumpy pot hole ridden roads!

So the next day we caught another bus and continued our town hop down the Mekong to Savannakhet. Again we didn’t book any accommodation but identified a couple of places online and headed there. It’s fun but frustrating when your first choice is full!

We didn’t do a lot in Savannakhet, we meandered the Mekong and watched the sunset and that was about it. The long, hard journeys were starting to take their toll with me and for the first time since we’ve been away, I was feeling burnt out. We were both lacking energy and the terrible roads meant that we weren’t keen to get back on them to go and explore further. Exploring new places is what energises and motivates us so we were stuck in a bit of a rut.

After a couple of nights rest here we headed to Pakse by bus. We got ditched at the side of the road outside of town and I couldn’t help but think that we’d be done over and scammed. I was starting to dislike Laos. Pakse was another place that had loads of interesting things to do outside of town but we just didn’t have the energy to do them.

Our last stop in Laos was 4000 islands, a mass of islands and sandbanks right in the middle of the Mekong. It was a relatively short bus ride followed by a short ride across the river to get to our accommodation. We chose to stay on the smaller island of Don Khon rather than the large party island of Don Det and Joey managed to find a lovely place with a swimming pool! We jumped straight into the pool after arriving and instantly felt revived! The following day we hired some bikes and cycled round the island and it was a beautiful day, possibly the best day we had in Laos! There was beautiful scenery and a great waterfall to visit. The evenings were spent watching the sunset and the local kids swimming in the Mekong. It was a very peaceful place. The next day we spent just chilling by the pool and we felt so much better after.

Overall we didn’t come away feeling like we loved Laos, and a lot of that was down to the travel between places. As I’ve said before though, it’s ok to not love everywhere that we visit. I hope as time goes on Laos is able to invest in its infrastructure and improve the roads. A lot of our journeys were so uncomfortable they were really draining and this took it out of us and hindered our enjoyment. Maybe if the infrastructure improves we’ll return and have a better experience.

January 9, 2024 0

Catching the slow boat from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang

The slow boat is an absolute rite of passage for any backpacker wishing to travel between the north of Thailand and Laos, and it’s something I’ve wanted to do since I first heard about it 9 years ago. There are a couple of starting points for your journey from Northern Thailand to Laos, Chiang Rai is extremely popular as it’s only a couple of hours from the Laos border, but we were starting from Chiang Mai.

Spoiler alert: the boat doesn’t actually start in Chiang Mai, but as I say this is a popular starting point for many backpackers.

We caught the Green Bus from Chiang Mai terminal 3 bus station, going to Chiang Khlong, the Thai border town. It left at 9.30am and we had booked it a few days ahead when we were in Chiang Rai from their bus station. It cost 311 baht each which is roughly £7.50. You can book this bus online for a higher price but we’re more ‘go in person to sort it’ people. Also, if you book online you have to wait until the day to be allocated seats.

The bus was full and the journey took roughly 7 hours and made a couple of short stops. Most of the bus emptied out at a town about an hour from the border and there were mainly backpackers left. It made a stop at the junction for the Friendship bridge outside of the town so we jumped out here and into waiting tuk tuks which took us swiftly to the border point for a fixed fee of 50 baht (£1.15) each. We quickly got our exit stamp, the border was very quiet as it was late in the day. We noticed a sign saying that we would have to pay 10 baht overtime fee as it was after 4pm, but in the end they didn’t charge us.

You walk through the Thai border and to a counter where a woman is selling bus tickets to the Laos border, over the other side of the Mekong river. This cost us 35 baht (80p) each, which included an ‘after hours’ fee. We had to wait for the bus to fill up, but this only took around 10 minutes or so. The bus ticket seller offered to exchange our remaining baht for Laos Kip but as we were returning to Thailand at a later date we didn’t opt for this. You can also pay for a lot of things in Laos in baht (particularly in the border town) so unless you have a lot of leftover baht I wouldn’t bother.

Once you arrive on the Laos side you need to go to a window to collect a set of forms, make sure you have a pen handy to complete these! You will need a passport photo and then hand your forms in to the window along with your passport and then wait by the next window! We had to pay 40 baht (90p) to get our stamp. It’s important to note that when they return your passport to keep the departure slip safe as you will need that when leaving Laos. We left via land border to Cambodia and those who didn’t have this slip had to pay $5.

There’s another window towards the exit where you pay for your visa – ours cost $40 each. Once you’ve done this you just need to grab a tuk tuk to the town of Huay Xai, it’s a short ride and tuk tuks are fixed at 200 baht (£4.05) a person. I’d read a few blogs about this part and I was worried it all sounded a bit complicated but it was incredible straightforward and took very little time.

We stayed at Little Hostel in Huay Xai as I’d read great reviews about the helpfulness of the owner and we weren’t let down. There’s only two 4 bed dorms here so it is (as the name suggests) a small hostel, but the owner sold us our tickets for the slow boat (430,000 Kip each – approx £16.70) for the next day (which included a pick up from the hostel) and also sorted us out with SIM cards. If you buy your tickets direct from the pier it will cost 400,000 Kip (about £15.30, we were happy to pay an extra £1.40 each to save the hassle of going to the pier). We were also able to order breakfast and a takeaway lunch for the boat. We dined next door at Bar How and whilst the food was good, the service was pretty slow!

We were picked up from the hostel the next day at 8.30am and were told the boat would leave at 9.30am. The hostel owner told us our seat numbers for that day but her parting advice for the following day was there were no seat numbers for the following day and to be there early to fight for your seat!

We arrived to the boat in good time and found our seats. The seats are made from old mini van seats and aren’t fixed to the ground so there is a little bit of fighting for leg space. The seats had pieces of paper on them representing numbers so you can do a little bit of switching of you don’t like your seat! We did switch ours slightly so we weren’t next to the doorway leading to the back of the boat. We were happy with our seats on the first day though – we were in the front of the boat about half away from the noise of the engine and on the outside so we had unrestricted views and we were facing into the gangway so we had a bit of leg room.

A selection is of the seats on the boat on the first day – note the plastic seats!

We eventually set sail around 10am and sailed for about 6 hours on the first day. The scenery was beautiful and it was nice to watch the world go by with nothing else to do. The boat was quite large and a bus load of backpackers from Chiang Rai arrived late so were left with the plastic stools and seats at the front of the boat in the blazing sun all day. They didn’t seem to mind though as they made their way through several cases of Lao beer and got louder and louder as the day went on! As we set off to start with on both days the breeze was a little chilly and people were pulling on hoodies to keep this at bay.

We arrived into Pakbeng around 4pm and Joe at some point had managed to climb into the luggage room at the back and reposition our bags at the top so we were able to make a quick getaway! If you can do this I recommend it! We were one of the very few that hadn’t booked accommodation in advance and therefore didn’t have a jeep waiting for us on arrival!

We enquired at a couple of places on our way up the hill but they were full and I started to panic that maybe I’d made a mistake. It wasn’t long before we were approached by someone from Thipphavanh Guesthouse asking if we needed a room. We looked at the room and took it – it wasn’t the most luxurious room we’ve ever stayed in and there wasn’t hot water but for 200,000 Kip (£7.70) we really couldn’t complain. We had dinner that night at Saibaidee restaurant which was definitely the go to place. It overlooked the Mekong and I can thoroughly recommend the buffalo and pumpkin curry! We ordered sandwiches from a place near the pier to pick up the next day.

The next day we got up and went for breakfast before heading down to the pier for around 7.45am. There were lots of slow boats around and we could see the one that we caught the day before. What we didn’t realise was that we wouldn’t be on the same boat so ask around when you arrive. When we realised we made sure we were quick to board and handed our luggage in. We found a semi decent seat (difficult as the boat was much smaller and we had to have a forward facing seat with less leg room). Those who didn’t arrive early were stuck right at the back, almost in the engine room and even a short stop at the toilet in that area was deafening!

The boat set off around 9am and the scenery again was incredible with lots of stops for local people to get on and off. It seemed that more people were getting on than off and after a while there were people standing and sitting in the aisles. It was so crowded it was hard to manoeuvre yourself to the toilet and it definitely felt a little unsafe at times as it was that crowded. Day two was much longer than day one and hard going, the seat felt more uncomfortable and the legroom was small. We were glad to finally disembark around 5pm. There is an office at the port where you queue up and buy a ticket into Luang Prabang which had a set fee of 40,000 Kip (£1.55) each. These drop you at the Night Market so make sure you know where you are staying from here! A lot of people who got on the boat from Chiang Rai didn’t have a Laos SIM cards yet so found themselves a little lost. We had local SIM cards so we were able to give directions in the tuk tuk to the centre but this isn’t something to rely on!

Overall I’m really glad that we did take the slow boat, it was a unique way to travel, but I’m not sure I would do it again! If you do take this journey I would recommend taking a hoodie for first thing and maybe a pillow to help increase comfort levels. There are snacks and beer available on board to buy but these are more expensive than on land so take snacks and lunch. The toilets were pretty clean to start but as the day went on they got a little dirty and were running out of toilet paper. The first day was definitely the worst for the toilets and I put that down to the amount of beer consumed on board!

January 3, 2024 0

Thai Trips

We took an overnight flight from Tokyo to Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur again, and landed around 9.30am so we headed straight to our usual haunt of Khao San Road. We never book ahead and just turn up, this meant we were able to check into a room straight away allowing us to take a short nap before we headed out. We planned two nights here and planned to do a couple of walks around Chinatown and the local area.

One of the places we visited was Wat Traimit Withayaram Worawihan, also known as the Temple of the Golden Buddha and is the world’s largest solid gold Buddha. It was once covered in plaster and no one knew it was solid gold until they went to move it and some of the plaster broke off. It was certainly a very impressive sight.

We had another two days booked in another hotel in Bangkok, this hotel had a jacuzzi bath on the balcony and was where we spent my birthday. We moved here by public bus and whilst we were waiting for the bus there was an almighty thunderstorm and an incredibly large clap of thunder and a flash of lightning happened right in front of us! It was pretty scary.

Following our treat we flew down to Phuket, we were on the descend when the pilot announced over the tannoy that there was ‘some weather’ in Phuket so we needed to hold over Krabi. I’m not a great flyer at the best of times (I hate take offs and turbulence in particular) and those words struck fear into me. I know ‘some weather’ is never good. It felt like we circled for ages and then when we did come into land we could see lightning out of the window and it got REALLY bumpy. I normally start to really freak out during moments like this, and I could feel Joey next to me flinch when there was more lightning, but this time I just went really really quiet and braced myself for a potential go around. Amazingly we landed first time and the guy the other side of me just said ‘finally’ when the wheels touched down. You could sense the relief in the whole plane and I was ready for a drink!

When we arrived at our hotel we dumped our bags and headed straight out. We were staying in the notorious Patong area, famous for its nightlife and girly bars. We wanted to get food at the night market but when we wandered through it, it was like being in a nightmare with all the vendors surrounding you and saying things like ‘I know you’re hungry’ ‘come and eat here’ and it stressed us out! We quickly escaped and I really likened it to a ghost train where everyone jumps out at you! We eventually found a quiet side street for some dinner and afterwards decided we definitely needed a drink so headed to the bar area. There were lots of girls dancing on bars wearing not a lot and lots of drink offers – it felt like Khao San Road on speed. Surprisingly we didn’t find it too seedy, no one seemed to be taking it too seriously and there were families with young children in the area. We spent the next day chilling on the beach before doing it all again.

We took a ferry the following day to Koh Phi Phi. There are two Phi Phis, big and small, you can only stay on big Phi Phi but little Phi Phi is famous for Maya Bay from the film The Beach. I don’t know if we had paid extra for a bouji boat but our ferry included a few brief photo stops around little Phi Phi including Maya Bay so we got to view it for free! I wasn’t terribly interested in visiting it separately as I knew it would be full of influencer types trying to get their IG shots so this was a bonus!

Our free sightseeing tour of little Phi Phi

Phi Phi is a party island but we were savvy enough to book accommodation far away from the parties! We had a good few days on a beautiful beach where you could snorkel off shore. Our accommodation wasn’t amazing and we shared our bathroom with two cockroaches, but in a sign of massive personal growth I didn’t freak out about them at all.

After Phi Phi we headed to Koh Lanta, a more laid back island close to Krabi. We had a pool here and it was right on the beach so perfect for relaxation. Unfortunately night one saw Joey spend most of it with his head in the toilet. I felt awful for him as it’s probably the sickest I have seen him. So whilst I was relaxing enjoying dinner and cocktails on the beach at sunset Joey was sleeping and restricted to the BRAT diet.

We had a mammoth travel day planned, our longest one yet, so Joey needed to recover. We were planning on travelling over 1300km overland without any overnight stops. We had to first get a bus to Krabi, which also involved a short car ferry, before waiting for another bus to Surat Thani. Surat Thani is the main jumping off point for the Gulf islands but this time we were continuing to head north. We’d booked an overnight sleeper train which is one of the ways to travel in Thailand. We were both on top bunks as we booked at short notice but we could at least poke our heads round to the other. We both slept really well thanks to the flat bed and the gentle slow rocking of the train. By a miracle our train arrived into Bang Sue station (I can’t help but have a giggle at some of the Thai names) on time- quite unusual for Thai trains! We caught a local bus to the bus station and went in hunt of our next transport. We were heading to the town of Sukothai, the ancient capital and a place full of ancient ruins. Now if you’re sat there thinking ‘didn’t you already go to the an ancient Thai capital full of ruins?’ Then you’d be correct – that was Ayutthaya!

We were lucky and there was a bus an hour after we arrived so we bought the tickets and headed to 7/11 for breakfast. We then headed off to get our bus, I could see the bus, it wasn’t far, I was excited, our mammoth travel day had one final leg left. The next thing I know I have caught my foot on some uneven ground and right now everything is happening in slow motion – I’m trying to save myself but the weight of my backpack is pulling me down. I can see my left knee twisting under me and I know when I hit the ground I’m going to hurt myself. I’m trying to untwist my knee but I can’t and as I hit the ground I am thinking to myself ‘oh god, that’s it, this is the end of travels now’. Joey has tried to save me but the weight of me, my backpack and his backpack pull him down as well. I sit on the ground for a few seconds and a woman rushes over to help me. I have to take my backpack off to try and get up and I really don’t know how I’m going to feel when I get up. I stand up and my legs hurt but I seem to be able to walk, I’m in shock and our bus is due to leave in about 10 minutes and my illogical thinking is to catch the bus at all costs! So I put my stiff upper lip on and hobble to the bus. As I approach the bus though I start to realise that perhaps I’m only hobbling because I think I should be rather than because I’m injured. I make it onto the bus and into our seat before bursting into tears. I’m still not sure if I’m injured and I’m definitely not sure 7 hours of sitting still is going to do me any good but by some miracle as the journey goes on I realise that I’m ok. Joey puts that down to the yoga we’ve been doing since the start of the year!

The next day I did wake up extremely stiff with some bruised ribs but all in all I considered myself very lucky. We caught a local bus to the ruins and took it very gently, just walking around the central zone. Sukothai is made up of five zones and you can cycle round them but we decided to walk the central zone as a gentle start as it’s the most compact zone. Wat Mahathat is the most famous sight in this zone and it’s the largest and most important temple in Sukothai. There are other temples in the zone which also demonstrate typical Sukothai style with lotus bud chedis. It was definitely worth the few hours we spent here wandering around.

The next day we headed back to the park this time hiring bikes with the intention of exploring the North Zone. The North zone is more spread out and there’s only two temples really worth seeing. The first is Wat Si Chum, this is another incredibly famous temple, as it holds a huge seated Buddha, the whole of which is hard to photograph. The Buddha has very large fingers which are very frequently photographed.

The next temple is Wat Phra Phai Luang. This is Khmer style and so resembles Angkor Wat, although there’s not a lot left! However these ruins were actually my favourite. They are so ruined that some of the plaster has crumbled away to reveal the bricks inside and you can clearly see how the Buddha is shaped from these bricks – I found it fascinating to see the process! There were a few other ruins on our way back to the main park, including this really funky one with lots of elephants around it.

I really enjoyed Sukothai, but was glad that we’d had a couple of months between here and Ayutthaya – it’s common to do them back to back and we definitely wouldn’t have enjoyed them as much.

The next day was a travel day and I was extremely relieved to wake up and my ribs not be hurting! I wasn’t sure I’d have been able to carry my backpack if they were!

We were heading to Chiang Rai and had booked a long but direct bus. Only we were told that our bus had broken down so we now had to get two buses! Still at least we made it.

Chiang Rai was a chance to slow things down a little. We visited the White Temple one day and the Black House the other, both utterly bizarre in their own ways. The White Temple was constructed around 1997 so isn’t as historical as some other Wats we’ve visited and from a distance it is quite stunning. Get a little closer though and things become a little strange. You must walk over a bridge to enter and as you approach the bridge you are met with lots of hands reaching up from the ground towards you apparently representing temptation. There’s also a section with paintings from the matrix and the twin towers from 9/11 but this was closed when we were there. It was very busy but worth a stop. We then visited the cave of art which was also a little bizarre but turned out to be our favourite thing.

The Black House is the work of Thai artist Thawan Duchanee and is housed in several buildings including one that very much resembles a black temple. The art pieces are utterly bizarre and range from cow horns to crocodile skins on tables to lots and lots of phallus! The main building housed several of his paintings and there was an option to use a QR code to view them through a filter which brought them alive. We really enjoyed this stop!

We headed onto Chiang Mai where Joey’s brother lives and where we were due to meet him and Joey’s parents who were flying over from the UK. We have spent a bit of time in Chiang Mai before so we allowed ourselves just one day to revisit some temples before relaxing with the family. It was a big birthday celebration for Dan, Joey’s brother, so lots of good food was consumed!

We always love going back to Thailand and it’s been amazing having these opportunities to explore more of the country and to allow for a bit of culture and a bit of relaxing time on the gorgeous beaches!

December 21, 2023 0

Unexpected Joy in Japan

After Taiwan our intention had been to visit the Philippines and we even had a flight booked but we knew it was still rainy season and when we were checking the forecasts it did look pretty rubbish so we cancelled our flight and booked a new one to Japan! Japan is somewhere that I have wanted to visit for a very long time so it was exciting and very unexpected to be able to do it, especially as we only had five days to plan before leaving!

We’d booked a direct flight with Cathay Pacific and the flight originated in Hong Kong and the typhoon that we’d been affected by a few days earlier had actually hit Hong Kong the night before so our flight was delayed by 5 hours! We only found this out at the gate but they handed some food vouchers out so it wasn’t all bad, plus we figured that in all our travels we’ve been fortunate enough to never really be massively delayed so we were probably due a delayed flight! If you ever find yourselves severely delayed at Taipei airport with a food voucher in hand, our top tip would be walk to Starbucks and eat there – our voucher went further there than at the nearby ‘local’ restaurants. Another top tip is to go to duty free if you want a drink – a can of beer from duty free was about 60p as opposed to being twice the price at a restaurant.

We eventually landed into Tokyo and reached our hotel around 12.30am, it wasn’t ideal by any means as we didn’t have time to get our bearings on arrival and we had to pay a fine at our hostel for a late check in!

The next morning we got up and set about heading into Tokyo. We pretty much fell at the first hurdle! The transport system was quite overwhelming with different lines being owned by different companies, there was also mainline trains, a metro and a subway system- all having different ticket systems. When we eventually arrived at Tokyo station we almost lost the plot trying to find our way around. I’ve since read the Tokyo station has 200 exits and I can well believe that. Individual local stations are hard enough to get around with different areas for different lines but this was something else! It was really frustrating to start with and I started to panic that we’d done the wrong thing coming to Japan, but we had some food and we pulled ourselves together!

We spent 4 nights in Tokyo visiting various temples, parks and Godzilla! We visited the Metropolitan Assembly building which has a free viewpoint of the city which was stunning. We also managed to get a free tour of the assembly hall which was really interesting, the guy showing us around told us that they’d recently been debating how to reduce the crow population- we had noticed how many crows there were and how large and menacing they were so it was a relief to hear they were discussing measures on how to control them.

Tokyo also presented us the chance to catch up with our friends Wun Lee and David who had been travelling Japan for the previous three months. We arranged to meet them at a toy shop and we were greeted by the hilarious sight of them in the below hats! David mentioned that he wanted to see Godzilla head and I had a quick look on the map and there was supposedly a Godzilla statue around the corner so I led us all on a walking tour to the statue and it was very much a damp squib. It was the smallest Godzilla statue I have seen and I’m not sure I’ll be starting a new career as a tour guide any time soon!

Japan is obviously famous for its bullet trains but prices have increased recently and there was no way we could afford to splash almost £500 each on a pass, so we opted for a much more reasonable bus pass instead.

We took a bus from Tokyo to Fujikawaguchiko where we spent two nights. We arrived around lunchtime and headed straight out for a walk around Lake Kawaguchiko it was beautiful scenery and we met someone along the way who told us that in 10 minutes we’d be able to see Mount Fuji and it was stunning when we did see it! The lake setting and the sunshine made it such a beautiful walk. We walked to Oishi Park and came across a beautiful field with the most gorgeous plants and it really did give us the most beautiful pictures of Fuji. When we arrived back at the hostel they told us that we had been really lucky as Mount Fuji had been out all day, it’s very common for it to disappear behind cloud at some point but it hadn’t done at all that day.

Mount Fuji was stunning with beautiful countryside

The next day we bought tickets for a sightseeing bus which has three lines and you can hop on and off at any point, the tickets were valid for two days so we planned to do that for the next two days.

We headed to another lake and walked around and then hopped back on to visit some lava caves. The caves were really interesting as they were formed of lava so different to any other caves that we have seen. It was much cooler in Fuji to the rest of Japan, especially at night so it was back to layers. We were lucky for a second day in a row and Fuji stayed out all the day for us – Fuji was just beautiful!

The next day we were catching a nightbus and we woke up to pouring rain. Not much chance of seeing Fuji today it would seem! We’d saved one of the bus lines for today though which actually had the worst views of Fuji anyway so the rain didn’t matter too much and we set off on that route. We visited another lava cave, called the bat cave and then walked through the forest to another bus stop. The rain eventually stopped and we ended up at the Iyashi no Sato which is the recreation of a traditional village which had been destroyed by a landslide in 1966. We headed back to the hostel to grab some food and our bags and when we reached the town Fuji put in an appearance and she was gloriously covered in snow! How lucky we were to see her with and without snow! We were limited on time so couldn’t snap the best photos but we felt so blessed to be there to savour the views.

We were so excited to see the first snowfall on Fuji

We were heading to Kyoto but we had to first head back to Tokyo before picking up the next bus. When we boarded the bus at Tokyo we were very pleasantly surprised by the overall comfiness of the bus – it even had a ‘pram’ hood for extra comfort and made frequent comfort breaks. We both slept really well – which is surprising as you all know I love a moan about some of the night buses we’ve had on this trip!

Joey settling down for the nightbus, complete with pram hood

We arrived into Kyoto station around 6.30am so we left our bags in a storage locker and headed to McDonald’s for breakfast. We then headed off to a nearby temple which was pretty quiet. We then tried to take a shortcut to another temple but ended up in some school grounds! The security guard was very helpful though and even gave us our first origami crane.

We spent the day wondering round until we started to flag and needed food! A quick pit stop though and we were on our way again. We stayed a little way from the centre and headed off to our apartment. Accommodation in Japan was pretty expensive (compared to what we have been used to) so we were finding ourselves in bunkbeds and with shared bathrooms more often than not so it felt like a treat to have our own bathroom here.

Kyoto was all about the temples and they were quite beautiful but it was also the busiest place we visited. We tried walking up a street to get to a particular temple and we just gave up as it was so busy, to the point where it was almost scary!

Kyoto temples and countryside – look how busy it was!

Poor Joey came down with a cold in Kyoto so was feeling under the weather most of the time but he did save his energy for a visit to Fushimi Inarin Shrine. This is very famous as it has hundreds of Torii gates aligning the path of a hill – very beautiful and different to anything we have seen.

From Kyoto we took a local train a very short ride to Osaka, famous for its neon lights. Joey was still feeling rough so we took it very easy and basically made that our only activity! It was very fun and we have some great photos.

After Osaka we took the bus to Hiroshima, infamous as the place that the first atomic bomb was detonated. We knew it would be a hard place to visit but I don’t think either of us realised how much of an impact it would have on us.

We had two full days here so decided to split the time in two with us tackling the more challenging aspects first before having fun later!

We started off with a walk through the Peace park, visiting ground zero where the bomb detonated and several memorials. We also visited memorial hall which had a temporary exhibition featuring the memories of those who had worked at the meteorological office during the time. We watched a video of men recalling their experiences and it was probably the hardest thing I have ever sat through. One spoke about going back into Hiroshima after the bomb had exploded to try and find his sister and the town was littered with bodies. All the bodies were almost unrecognisable and he struggled to recall what his sister was wearing that day and he found it hard to keep looking. He went back to his office (I should mention that he was badly injured and could barely walk) and then came back the next day to try and find her, only by the time he reached town all of the bodies had been removed and he never found his sister. He spoke in a very moving manner about the guilt that he had felt ever since and I found it incredibly hard to watch and digest.

One of the lesser talked about things of Hiroshima is the fact that a month after the bomb a typhoon ripped through the city making the situation even worse. Weather forecasts were still banned so the people of the city had not been able to take evasive action.

We then visited the Peace Memorial museum and this was also incredibly moving. It was very, very busy, to the point that you almost couldn’t see the exhibitions but what was really interesting and poignant was how quiet everyone was as they moved through the exhibitions. The pictures and stories were again very harrowing and moved us both to tears again. The pictures told a story of complete destruction and the entire city was completely destroyed, it was truly awful to see the pain and suffering told in those photos and it both gave us a lot to think about and I wanted to immediately join the CND.

The next day we stuck to our word of doing something fun and headed off on day trip to Miyajima island, a UNESCO world heritage site. We caught the train and a ferry there and headed up the hill on a very steep hike. You can also catch a cable car but we had time and energy so we went for it. It was a very peaceful and serene walk and just what we needed after the previous day. It was worthwhile as well as the views from the top of hill were stunning. There is a famous torii gate which, when the tide is in, looks as though it is floating. The tide was out when we arrived but back in upon leaving!

That night we caught a night bus back to Tokyo and again we slept like angels! I wish every night bus could be like the Japanese night buses!

We dropped our luggage at a hotel and set off to visit the ‘cat temple’ this is the temple from which the ‘lucky kitty’ is born. Legend has it a cat was seen beckoning its owner in from a storm. The temple has thousands of lucky kitties in the grounds and it was nice to see such a unique place. We then headed to some gardens to while away our homeless day. After that we headed to a tech store and spending time in tech stores in Japan was so much fun – our favourite thing was the toilet section and deciding which one we’d like to install when we remodel our bathroom in the future – heated toilet seats are definitely the future!

The next day was our last day in Japan and we spent the morning at a Hedgehog cafe. I love hedgehogs and back in our garden at home we were regularly visited by wild ones so this was such a treat. Japan has lots of animal cafes and when I found out that included hedgehogs I had to go. You get an hour to pet them, this did feel a bit odd as in the UK you are discouraged from picking them up but I really enjoyed the experience and l found it so relaxing when one fell asleep in my hands.

Look how happy I am to cuddle these little fellas

We spent the afternoon wandering around revisiting a few places (including the Godzilla head) and enjoyed a game of bowling before it was time to say goodbye to Japan.

Japan was such a lovely surprise as we didn’t expect to go on this trip, we managed more or less within our budget by doing things such as sleeping in dorms and sharing bathrooms. We didn’t eat out much which also made it cheaper and we travelled by bus rather than train which again made it cheaper so I’m pleased we managed to backpack a small part of Japan on our backpackers budget!

December 2, 2023 1