Nha Trang and Hoi An

We’d been told not to expect much more than a beach from Nha Trang, so factored in one day there to relax before continuing to Hoi An. We left Dalat in the morning and had arrived at our hostel by lunchtime, leaving us with an extra afternoon to fill. Thinking we’d just have extra beach time, we were persuaded otherwise. It turns out mud baths are quite a popular attraction in Nha Trang, and having missed out on the opportunity to go to hot water beach and dig my own mud pool in New Zealand, I was keen to go.

With that in mind, none of us were expecting the afternoon we had. It turned out to be a full on spa trip in a posh hotel (at an unbelievably low price). The mud bath was actually a Jacuzzi filled with liquid mud on our arrival. After soaking in it for the allocated 20 minutes, we were escorted to our next treatments, which included a sauna, steam room, Jacuzzi (this time with water), and foot bath (a welcome treat after living in flip-flops). I hadn’t felt so clean in a long time, and we even received a courtesy taxi ride back to our hostel to keep our feet clean for that little bit longer.

After our planned beach day, we got on the night bus to Hoi An, where we stayed for the next few days. Hoi An was unlike anywhere else we went in Vietnam. It’s a traditional Southeast Asian trading port and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Many of the buildings are made of wood and have Chinese and Japanese architectural influences. Besides the busier main street, it was mostly a maze of smaller relaxed streets, lined by clothes tailors and silk shops, and restaurants.

One of the main reasons people go to Hoi An is to get good quality, tailor made clothes at reasonable prices. After much deliberation over styles, we all got dresses made, and Bryony and I also splashed out on some jeans. After they’d taken our measurements and we’d selected materials and colours, I was expecting them to need at least 24 hours to make them. I was shocked when we were told to come back the following morning (it was already past midday). The items were finished so quickly, and the tailors made as many alterations as we wanted.  If it wasn’t for budget constraints, I would have kept buying more as the whole process was so fun!

We’d conveniently arrived in Hoi An on the day of the Full Moon Lantern Festival, which happens on the 14^th day of each lunar month. Colourful lanterns line the streets, and in the Old Quarter, electricity is turned off and transport banned. We went down to the river with a group of people from our hostel to join the thousands of people who were there celebrating. Everyone bought lanterns, before making a wish and setting them into the river. They disappeared among the hundreds of other tiny candles which illuminated the river as they floated down it. It was a beautiful scene, and felt so magical against such a historic backdrop.

We went to the festival with a group of people we’d met at the hostel. It was Chris’ Birthday so we went out for dinner to sample a restaurant famous in Hoi An, before continuing the celebrations at some of the bars. We made a great group of friends that night, who we stayed with for the rest of our time in Hoi An and over our next week in Vietnam (and is partly why this blog got so far behind!).

One of my favourite days in Hoi An was spent on a huge, empty beach (of similar vastness to those on the east coast of Australia), having a fun afternoon with the rest of the group playing games in the sea and rounders with a piece of driftwood as a bat (which I inadvertently shattered on an overly enthusiastic swing). It was worth the scary bicycle ride through busy streets to get there, but our return journey wasn’t best timed, bumping into the school run of parents on motorbikes blocking the road to collect their children. Bryony had contracted a puncture, but the Vietnamese road etiquette of just looking ahead seemed to work for her, and we all got back in one piece.

Our next stop was Phong Nha, where we spent my birthday.

the river by day

hundreds of lanterns floating down the river

With our candles before setting them into the river at the Full Moon Lantern Festival

Dalat

Dalat is likened to the French Alps and it was a refreshing change to arrive there after the busyness of Ho Chi Minh. 

We stayed in my favourite hostel in Asia so far, Wolfpack. It’s a small hostel with a massively friendly atmosphere. Each evening the owners would cook a huge buffet dinner (with the best spring rolls I’ve ever had) served on the floor, with everyone sat around on cushions eating together. And making an already great hostel even better was the karaoke bar next door, which saw some powerful renditions of some well-know classics before we had to be thrown out (because it was closing time, not because of the singing).

We spent a couple of days exploring the city, which felt very European – there are narrow winding streets, coffee shops everywhere, and a large lake where people can hire pedalos. We visited one of Dalat’s more unusual attractions, the Crazy House. It looks like something that should belong in a cartoon, and would never pass safety inspections at home, but it’s an incredible building of staircases, wonky floors, and irregularly shaped walls. We also took a cable-car ride to see the panoramic views of pine trees and valleys that Dalat is famous for.

The complete highlight of my time in Dalat, and Asia so far, was a canyoning trip. Canyoning involves abseiling down cliffs and waterfalls, swimming, sliding, jumping, and walking. We were kitted up in harnesses, life jackets and helmets (all of a surprisingly high quality) and taken to a grassy bank by our instructors to practice the abseiling technique. I spent this practice period thinking I would probably die that day, as whilst telling us we must never let go of the rope with our right hand (because this would cause it to run through), they failed to mention there would also be a safety line just incase we did. Once I realised there’d be a line, their shouting, ‘Don’t worry, chicken curry,’ didn’t seem so crazy anymore.

Some of the sections were scary, but I always felt so safe it was an excited terror. The most challenging obstacle was a 25m gushing waterfall which we had to abseil down. I can’t say I felt like I’d really mastered the abseiling technique before I found myself slowly repelling down it. The rock was really slippery and the flow of water got stronger and deeper further down. Bryony is a bit of a rock climbing pro (which translates into a pro at anything with a rope and a harness); unfortunately for her she went after me. She caught me up just as I got to the deepest and strongest bit of water, so had to take the full force of the flow whilst I edged down more slowly than before, aware that they had removed the safety line. Four metres from the bottom, the rope ran out and we had to jump into the plunge pool below. The guide was shouting at me to let go and jump, but I saw the distance and thought I’d spend a bit longer in the waterfall. But then I heard Bryony shouting at me to jump and saw her above being completely pummelled by the water whilst I was slightly shielded; I jumped so she wouldn’t drown. 

All of the obstacles were really fun, and the professionalism of the guides made me trust that everything we did, however ridiculous, would be safe. Everyone just took being pushed down bumpy waterfall slides and being sucked underwater for a few seconds at a time, before emerging elsewhere, in their stride. I found I’d developed an inability to bring myself to jump off high things, but after a good 20 minutes of looking over the edge and the gentle encouragement of the entire group loudly counting me down, I jumped off a 7m cliff.  Canyoning was quite the bonding experience, and we’ve seen four of the people from our group since. 

Days like canyoning are the kind that make me want to travel forever, and it gave the rest of Vietnam a lot to live up to. Our next stop was a quick overnight visit to Nha Trang, before heading to Hoi An.  

       

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

*22nd-25th Feb*

We could tell how different Vietnam would be from Cambodia as soon as we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City. Sky-rise buildings, which hadn’t really existed even in Phnom Penh, were everywhere and the roads were at least twice as busy (crossing a road involves taking a few calming breaths, edging out slowly in pack formation whilst making eye contact with motorbike drivers, and hoping they steer around you). I didn’t think much of the city itself, mainly because going anywhere was quite hard work, but luckily there’s a fair bit to see and do. 

As with Cambodia, we tried to learn a bit about the history of Vietnam. I’d already heard about the Vietnam war but didn’t know much about it; the bias of the War Remnants Museum made it quite difficult to learn more. It consisted of a lot of information about all of the horrific things the Americans did during the war period (1955-1975), but nothing about the causes or reasons for the war beginning in the first place. A whole floor was dedicated to the photos and case studies of the generations of Agent Orange victims. I came away with a good understanding of the impacts of the war, but not a lot else.

A daytrip to the Cu Chi tunnels provided a bit more balance by demonstrating all the clever traps the Vietnamese made to maim and kill the Americans, as well as the methods they used to trick them (like sandals which create footprints that go in the opposite direction). We got to make our way through a 100m section of tunnel which, although a bit of a game for us, was a glimpse into life in the tunnels. They were so small and dark and I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like to be in there for such long periods of time whilst the war went on overhead.

Having opted not to take the lengthy journey down the Mekong River from Cambodia into Vietnam, we took a day-trip to the Mekong Delta. The Mekong Delta is Vietnam’s most productive rice and fishing region. It’s an expansive area, so we were only able to see a small part of it. We took a boat trip down a narrow tributary in a rowing boat (more like a punting boat), whilst sporting Vietnamese conical hats. It was the kind of river that looked like it would make a good home for a crocodile, but we were assured there aren’t any. We were then transported by a larger, engined boat along the main estuary. Although not as scenic, the banks were lined by houses on stilts and painted boats so it was an interesting journey and unlike anything we’d seen elsewhere. 

After exhausting the activities in and around Ho Chi Minh, we were excited to head to our next destination, Dalat, before commencing with the rest of our 3 week trip up the Vietnam coast.





Koh Rong and Kampot

*14th-20th February*

After a first week full of history and culture, our second week in Cambodia was a bit more relaxing.

We made the long journey from Siem Reap to the island of Koh Rong. After getting the night bus (a very bumpy experience on a dirt track of a main road, where horns never stopped beeping), followed by a day bus, followed by a boat, all we wanted to do on our arrival was have a shower and sleep. We were on the last boat of the day and the only accommodation we could find was a hugely overpriced, outdoor dorm room, with mouldy sheets, blocked toilets, and a very poorly thatched bathroom door looking out onto the bar. To make things worse, we’d arrived on Valentine’s day, and there was a huge party night being held in the bar next to our open dorm, auctioning people off on dates. Luckily, I sleep through anything, but it wasn’t really the start we’d envisaged.

After our time on Gili, I was a bit dubious about returning to island life, especially when Koh Rong sounded even more remote with no ATMs and electricity which turns off intermittently throughout the day. However, after a bad start, Koh Rong became one of my favourite stops in Southeast Asia so far. Although it’s remote, it wasn’t in any way boring like Gili Air, and was just a much nicer island than Gili T. We moved hostel to a private room with ensuite (for only £2 more!) after the first night, and were having such a good time we stayed on the island an extra day than planned. 

The highlight of my time there was a group boat trip. We set off in a little wooden boat to our first stop of the day, a snorkelling site. It was admittedly terrible; there wasn’t really anything to see and we spent most of the time trying not to poison ourselves by stepping on the spiky sea urchins which seemed to cover the seabed. Kat managed to slice the bottom of her foot but after observing her for anything abnormal over the next few minutes we concluded she’d be okay. Despite the lack of (harmless) sea creatures, it was nice to have a swim in the sea where there was also a lack of rubbish floating around. 

Once we’d had enough of swimming, our boat chugged out from the sheltered cove where we’d been anchored and into the rolling waves of the Gulf of Thailand. We were presented with fishing lines (very, very long lengths of coiled wire with a hook at the end) and attempted to fish for our dinner whilst hoping the waves weren’t going to overturn the boat. No one had very much luck, apart from our boat driver who seemed to pluck one out of the water every minute – thankfully we’d be eating! As we sat there for longer and longer, everyone began to turn a bit green, and I think the driver thought it would be for the best if we got to land. 

We anchored in the shallows and waded to the shores of the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been to, Long Beach. It was like an advert for a paradise island, with a huge stretch of clean white sand, crystal clear waters, and a jungle backdrop. The freshly caught fish were BBQ’d  and we sat on the edge of the jungle to eat (it was surprisingly tasty for an unspecified fish, unless you accidentally ate too close to the skin). We stayed at Long Beach and watched the sunset, before paddling back out to the boat. 

My favourite part of the trip was yet to come. Once darkness had fallen, we could see the tiny lights of glowing plankton dotted in the waves as they crashed against the edge of the boat. We all jumped into the water, watching the water around us illuminate. With the night sky overhead and bioluminescence of the plankton, it felt like we were completely surrounded by stars. Everyone got a bit excitable and started splashing around and, long after we’d all got out to avoid hypothermia, we could still hear the squeals of two German guys who were quite clearly having the time of their life. 

For a small island there’s so much to do on Koh Rong and I definitely could have stayed there longer. After four nights we moved on to the riverside town of Kampot, where we stayed at a hostel on the riverbank with stunning mountain views. It had loads of fun water activities like jumping platforms and tubing rings. This, and the sociable atmosphere, was enough to keep us occupied for a couple of days so we didn’t leave the hostel much. Our main ventures were for food at a Khmer restaurant at the end of the drive, and to sample the very tasty chocolate brownies at a recommended bakery in the town. It was a fun couple of days but I was ready to be on the move again by the time they were over. 

I had a great couple of weeks in Cambodia, in part because the people (both locals and tourists) were so friendly. It was definitely my favourite of the Asian countries we’d visited so far and I’d love to go back and see more. After a quick pitstop in Phnom Penh, we crossed the border into Vietnam for our next stop, Ho Chi Minh City. 





Siem Reap

*10th-13th February*

Siem Reap seems to be a must stop destination for anyone visiting Cambodia and Southeast Asia more generally. It was evident from how full the hostels were, and how many tourists were wondering the town. 

Our main reason for being there was to visit Angkor Wat, Cambodia’s iconic temple complex. We hired a tuk-tuk driver to take us there for sunrise and then around a circuit of the smaller temples, including Ta Prohm where Tomb Raider was filmed. After being picked up at 5am, the day didn’t begin as I’d expected. I’d seen loads of photos of Angkor Wat before going, all with a mirror image reflected in the lake in front. I’d imagined a long lake spanning the length of the temple, but the reality was a relatively tiny pond where everyone gathered. The result was crowds of angsty people fighting over space to get that sought after sunrise shot. There were the older British couple patiently queuing for their turn, and looking on in outrage as a Chinese family pushed their way through to a more optimum viewing point; Kat nearly got in a fight with a particularly angry lady, who was jabbing her on the shoulder, telling her to get off her rock. The sunrise itself was a bit of an anticlimax, far from the magical experience it’d been made out to be. There’s no doubt that it’s a very impressive building, but really I think the only advantage to getting there so early is to see the other temples before it gets too hot. 

We thought people might calm down a bit after the main event as, after all, how many photos of temples can you really need? It seemed quite a lot. I got rugby tackled on a narrow, raised walkway into the path of another photo, by a lady, camera-in-hand, in an unexplained hurry (the other people probably got an entertaining photo from it). Our final major encounter was accidentally walking on a main path in front of a woman taking a photo of a wall. She preceded to swear and mutter under her breath like we were (very ironically) the world’s rudest people.

With the frenzied crowds, it was sometimes easy to mistake where we were for feeding time at the zoo. However, the temples are so grand they’re impossible to ignore. I found it difficult to comprehend how such architecturally complicated structures, with incredibly intricate detailing, were built. As a Buddhist temple complex, it’s probably testament to its greatness that it wasn’t destroyed along with other religious buildings during the Khmer Rouge regime. 

Controversially, my favourite thing we did in Siem Reap wasn’t visiting the temples. The highlight of my time there was going to Phare, the Cambodian Circus. The cast of the circus is made up of young people from difficult social and economic backgrounds, who receive free education at an arts school funded by the Phare social enterprise. The performance wasn’t a circus as I’d imagined it, but a spectacle of storytelling, acting, dance, acrobatics, art, and music, themed around Cambodian history and culture. It was such an entertaining and slick performance, and wouldn’t have been out of place in London.

I had a really enjoyable few days in Siem Reap. The town itself was fun to explore, with a large varied market  and lively pub street (complete with a teenage Cambodian girl selling bracelets, who was an amazing dancer and drew more crowds than the clubs she was dancing outside). Our next stop was Koh Rong for a bit more of island life.



Phnom Penh

Arriving in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, we were greeted at the airport by hoards (technically more like a handful) of blood-thirsty mosquitos. In a way I was glad to see them as it means the anti-malarial tablets we started taking in preparation for Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos are probably necessary (most people we meet aren’t taking anything). We made a quick getaway to our hostel, along with Diego, who we met at the airport and spent our time in Phnom Penh with.

Our stay in Phnom Penh was a lesson in Cambodian history. Before going on this trip, I had no idea of the extreme suffering the country had gone through during the Khmer Rouge regime. Under the rule of Pol Pot, the Cambodian population became war slaves, forced to evacuate cities and work in rural areas with very little food, and a complete abolishment of doctors, education, and religion. Those who were perceived to threaten the extreme communist regime were tortured and/or killed in horrifying circumstances. It was happening in our parents lifetime, yet I doubt many people outside Cambodia (and perhaps even some people in Cambodia) knew of the true extent of the situation at the time. Today, Western people wouldn’t learn about it unless they actively sought out the information.

We visited the S-21 prison and the Killing Fields, where most of the prison victims were taken to be executed. Many people were sent to prison having done nothing wrong, and were tortured until they admitted to a crime they hadn’t committed. The prison (now a museum) houses haunting images of the thousands of people held there, and the original cells they were confined to. The Killing Fields site is a surprisingly peaceful place, set on a lake. However, the large monument containing the bones and skulls of thousands of victims is a prominent reminder of the brutality endured by an entire nation.

At the height of the Khmer Rouge regime, Phnom Penh would have been a ghost town apart from a few high ranking soldiers. Today, it is a nice, yet comparatively underdeveloped city; it’s hard to imagine the horrors that unfolded there so recently. Walking around we could see the strong presence of the Buddhist faith, with several intricately decorated pagodas, frequented by groups of monks. We visited the Royal Palace, a grand and expansive collection of buildings, which almost felt like another town within the city. It was so ornately decorated and more like a palace from a fairytale. 

There are lots of positive initiatives which we saw advertised at our hostel to help people out of poverty in Phnom Penh. We visited Daughters, a business which offers alternative employment to victims of sex-trafficking and former sex-workers. They have a shop, beauticians, and café, providing a range of different jobs. We ate at the café, and after a mango-chicken baguette with generous helpings of ginger, I was left able to confirm that I still definitely don’t like ginger. 

After an insightful couple of days, we made our way to Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor Wat. 





Georgetown and the Cameron Highlands

Penang is an island off the west coast of Malaysia, connected to the mainland by a very long bridge. We travelled to the island and stayed in Georgetown, the second largest city in Malaysia and a World Heritage site. We didn’t do anything specific whilst we were there, but it’s the kind of place where you don’t need to do much to feel like you’ve done something.

Georgetown is so culturally diverse and it made it a really interesting city to walk around. We stayed in Little India, where the streets were blasting Indian music, several shops sold decorative saris, and the aroma of rich curries wafted from the many curry houses. Walk a couple of streets and the next would house a Chinese temple, brightly decorated in red lanterns for Chinese New Year. The smell of incense from people lighting sticks at the temple saturated the air, and street vendors enticed tourists and locals with Chinese food dishes. Turn around the next corner and there was more of a European feel, with buildings as we know them forming a high street, lined with banks and cafés. There’s a range of street art adjourning many walls around the city, creating even more to see.

Having endured the heat of Georgetown, I was so excited to visit the Cameron Highlands, where temperatures rarely exceed 21 degrees. After a four hour bus journey, an hour of which was spent winding up mountains, we stepped off the bus into cool air! I felt like we’d stepped into a French ski resort, minus the snow. We spent a couple of days there, embracing the cold.

One of the main things to do in the Highlands is walking. On a hike in the forest, we found that the path we’d intended to follow (by looking for the piece of tape precariously tied to intermittent trees) was blocked off by a landslide. We had to take a slight diversion to another path which happened to be very steep and uphill. It had a very uneven surface of exposed tree roots, and we had to climb over and under fallen trees. The whole walk ended up being a bit more energetic than first planned, but judging by how hard I found it on the way up, I needed the exercise!
On our second day we did a group tour to see more of the surrounding area outside the town of Tanah Rata where we were staying. The Cameron Highlands are packed with tea plantations and strawberry farms. We visited a tea plantation with spectacular views over the fields, and a strawberry farm where we had an amazing juice made from freshly picked strawberries. Our tour guide then took us into the Mossy Forest, one of the oldest forests in the world. It was exactly like being in the lair of the giant spiders from Harry Potter: dark and dingy with cobwebs hanging between tree branches. Walking along with our fairly elderly tour guide, we thought we were in for an easy time. That is, until we came to a tree which had grown up against a bank. Everyone watched as he effortlessly climbed the tree. We then followed one by one, hoping not to be the one who couldn’t get to the top. The climb wasn’t actually that difficult, but it was made a bit precarious by slippery and weak branches. And of course, there was also the imminent danger of gripping a blind-spot overhead where a spider might have been lurking. Once we’d all safely traversed the bank, our guide sent us off into the forest whilst he exited into the road by somehow getting down a vertical rock-face (I have no idea how he did it, but he told us it was too dangerous). We were muddy and wet when we emerged from the forest, but it was a fun day.

We made the journey back to KL, ready for our flight to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

Kuala Lumpur

*30th Jan – 1st Feb, and 7th Feb*

Travelling from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, I got to experience my first long bus journey in Asia. I’d heard horror stories about hot, cramped buses, which don’t stop for toilet breaks. But, after expecting the worst, I don’t think I’ve ever travelled by bus in such luxury. We had huge reclining armchair-like seats with ample leg room, and blasting air-con. Comfort definitely wasn’t an issue; the main problem arose when it came to deciding when to get off the bus. When we eventually did get off the bus (because we’d reached the last stop so there wasn’t any other option) we were dropped in what appeared to be the hard shoulder lane of a main road – we later learnt it was the lane into KL’s main bus terminal.

We were in KL for a couple of days, before going to Georgetown and the Cameron Highlands, and then returned for an afternoon to get our flight to Cambodia early the next morning. We stayed in Bukit Bintang in the city centre, and were immersed in the busy and hectic surroundings. I have never seen so many large shopping malls all in such close proximity to each other, each containing a mixture of high street and designer brands – I have no idea how there’s demand for so many shops. I’d say shopping is probably the main attraction in KL, but we made sure to see the famous Petronas towers (complete with huge shopping mall taking up at least 8 floors). The towers really stand out next to the rest of the buildings, not only because of their height (they’re the tallest twin-towers in the world), but because they look so grand against a real mix of older high rise blocks, partly finished new buildings, and partly destroyed old buildings. There’s a lovely garden area outside the towers, which is where we first discovered we’d gained celebrity status in Malaysia. Sitting in the garden, we were approached by a woman in her late twenty’s who wanted our photo. I didn’t want to be the next #blondegirl on Instagram so was a diva and declined (this didn’t stop her trying to take my photo anyway whilst I hid behind my arms). Kat thought the whole ordeal would be over faster if she had a photo, but Bryony and I have since trained her to say no if she wants to.

Besides the shopping, there aren’t too many tourist attractions in KL, so we made the short train journey into the suburbs to the Batu caves. The caves are set within a limestone hill, and are the site of a number of Hindu temples. The main temple is marked by a huge golden statue of Lord Murugan, and is reached by climbing hundreds of stairs. Completely by chance, we’d ended up visiting during the Thaipusam festival. During the festival, thousands of people make their way up the steps, carrying milk as an offering to Murugan. We learnt that a procession would have started from KL, walking the 15km to the caves. The majority of people were wearing yellow, and there was music and chanting, creating a bright and resonant atmosphere. It was such a lucky coincidence that we visited during the festival as I don’t think we’d have got a sense for the significance of the caves otherwise.

Most of our time in KL was centred around the next meal. A few people had said how good the food is in Malaysia so we wanted to try as much as possible. All of KL’s many shopping malls have at least one food court with a variety of meal options, costing as little as £1 and very rarely more than £2. We ate at a different food court each meal, and tried something new each time. However, after eating so much local food, we couldn’t turn down the opportunity to have 2 large Pizza Hut pizzas for £1 each, eaten whilst watching Andy play in the Australian Open final. And after the disappointment of him losing, we deemed it appropriate to visit the Häagen-Dazs restaurant to get an ice-cream fondu set (to share). On our final night we met up with my uni housemate, Mimmi, who was a couple of weeks into her travels. We went for dinner together and it was great to see another familiar face and have a catchup.

We experienced a real mixture of local and western culture (and not just in terms of the food!), which I think appropriately reflects the diversity seen in KL. Our next stop was the island of Penang to visit Georgetown.

Singapore

*27th-29th January*

I’ve never been to a city quite like Singapore before, and it’s definitely one of my favourite cities I’ve visited on this trip so far. I was looking forward to a welcome break from our much quieter time in Bali, but found that Singapore greatly exceeded my expectations.

With Bryony and me back to full health, we were able to make the most of sightseeing. It was hot but much less humid than in Bali so walking around was a lot more comfortable. We tried to visit the key tourist attractions; Marina Bay and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the Gardens by the Bay, and the Singapore Botanical Gardens were our main stops during our walks around the city. One thing that struck me about Singapore was that it wasn’t just the tourist hotspots that were worth looking at. There’s interesting artwork everywhere you go, from a long stretch of colourful 3D fish on a wall, to an abstract model in the middle of a walkway. It adds vibrancy and life to what would otherwise look like quite a corporate set-up. Of course, the main attractions are spectacular in themselves. We happened to catch the daily light and music show coming from the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, of the type that would only be seen in somewhere like London on a very special occasion. There’s something quite futuristic about Singapore, and I think we all started planning our upcoming business trips there (when we eventually get jobs…) with stays in the Marina Bay Sands hotel and use of their rooftop infinity pool.

We’d initially only planned to spend a day and a half in Singapore, but after misplacing my card in a cash machine back in Ubud, we stayed an extra night whilst I held out hope that my new card would arrive. This gave us the chance to take a trip to Sentosa, an island full of tourist attractions. Kat and Bryony hadn’t gone luging in NZ so it seemed like the obvious activity to do. I’d loved it in NZ and was super excited to go again. The track wasn’t as challenging or steep as in Queenstown, but the major difference was the competition; both Kat and Bryony were terrible Lugers. They liked having a leisurely ride down the track, but when I tried to encourage Kat to give it her all, her fear that I would run her off the track led me to the conclusion that she doesn’t have the right temperament for luging. And as Bryony meandered to the finish line I could conclude that she definitely doesn’t have the right temperament for luging. In the end I had to be content with racing myself down the track. Sentosa was like a playground; as well as my future business trips, I’ve also started planning my future flight stopovers so I can go to the waterpark!

No trip to Singapore would be complete without sampling the food. Luckily, Pearlyn was home in Singapore for a few months and was on hand to make sure we ate the right foods – apparently the lemongrass-beef with rice, which I’d proudly purchased from a market the night before, didn’t count. She picked us up from our hostel and drove us to a market where there were loads of different foods on offer. After a quick circulation of the market, she sat us down before proceeding to bring us plates of different things to try. My favourite was the braised duck rice, but we also had a really nice chicken rice too. Other things on the menu included curry puffs (the curry version of a pasty) and carrot cake. Unfortunately carrot cake isn’t carrot cake in the way we know it, but an interesting concoction of egg and radish cake (rice flower, water and daikon). It was nice and tasted a bit like an omelette, but I think I prefer the cake version. We also tried ais kucang. It’s dubbed as a refreshing desert, but I found it absolutely revolting. It’s sugared ice, topped with a sweetcorn sauce, and once you delve in there’s all kinds of surprises (of the unwelcome variety) like kidney beans. It was great to try a selection of local foods and be able to trust that it probably wouldn’t give us food poisoning (Singapore’s so clean that street food could probably be eaten from the pavement). It was also great to see Pearlyn again so soon after meeting up in Sydney. Yet again she was a top tour guide, and I’m not sure we would have been brave enough to try some of the foods unless she’d placed them down in front of us.

After a brilliant couple of days, we got a bus over the border into Malaysia for our next stop, Kuala Lumpur.

The Gili Islands and back to Bali

*19th-26th Jan*

The Gili Islands are a set of 3 tiny islands just off the northwest coast of Lombok, the island east of Bali. They’re renowned for being a place where backpackers will visit with a few days in mind, but end up staying a couple of weeks. We spent time on two out of the three, Gili Trawangan and Gili Air, but I didn’t find myself wanting to stay longer than the 5 days we were there.

After a surprisingly smooth crossing on the ‘fast ferry’, made fast by sticking 5 outboard engines on the back, we were dropped on the beach (literally) of Gili T. It’s known as the party island, but I think this is just relative to the other two islands which are incredibly relaxed (although we were there in the low season so it’s probably more manic in the high season). The main street is a dusty track, full of small shops and eateries. There’s no motorised transport on the island; horse-drawn carts are the taxi service and everyone gets around by bicycle or walking.

Bryony was still out of action and recuperating in the air-conditioned dorm room at our hostel, so Kat and I were left to explore the island by ourselves. We weren’t quite alone though as Justine, Lauren and Prav were staying on the island too. We all had a fun night out at a beachside island bar, along with a group of other people from Justine and Lauren’s hostel. The most productive of our couple of days was spent cycling around the island with stops to swim and have a beachside meal or drink. It’s possible to walk around the entire island in 2 and a half hours, but we didn’t fancy trying in the heat!

I had an enjoyable couple of days, but on reflection I feel a bit uncomfortable about the profound contrast between tourists and locals. Gili T’s party reputation means it’s overrun with bikini clad, alcohol fuelled backpackers, despite it being a Muslim island. I completely accept that I was one of those people (albeit a slightly tamer version) and it all seemed really normal when you’re there. But after stopping to think about it I find it quite exploitative that Western people can make a place their holiday getaway, whilst the morals and beliefs of locals are completely ignored, purely because tourism is the main source of income. There are hundreds of places in all parts of the world where local values and beliefs are undermined by the need for an income; I think the small size of the island and therefore more necessary integration of tourists with locals makes it particularly apparent on Gili T.

We left for Gili Air expecting a nicer version of Gili T. It was certainly much more conservative, and the tourism industry much less intrusive. There are lots of luxury honeymoon retreats in unpopulated areas of the island, which would have been lovely to stay at if we weren’t on a budget. Our accommodation was still a pretty nice garden thatched bungalow, albeit a very hot one. But, all in all, I don’t think Gili Air was for us. It’s a beautiful, idyllic setting (if you ignore the unsightly rubbish which sometimes washes up on the shore) but we were bored. Two nights there in a hot and stuffy room felt like 2 weeks and we couldn’t wait to get back to the mainland. I think it was safe to say we were over island life.

I should have a whole other blog to write about our last couple of days in Bali after returning to our Kuta hostel. Unfortunately, it was my turn to have Bali belly (thankfully not as badly as Bryony) so I was confined to the hostel and shop next door. I didn’t quite get to the point where I was looking up the cost of the next flight home (Bryony was ready to go until she thought about how horrendous the flight would be), but I wasn’t having the time of my life either.
Kat and Bryony took a trip to nearby Seminyak for a surf lesson. They had a fun but tiring time, and there are some great pictures to prove it. Kat returned with a newly developed husky voice after almost being decapitated by her board, and both of them had friction burns down their legs from repeatedly climbing back on. In spite of their injuries, I think we’re all looking forward to surfing later on in our trip.

Luckily, by the day of our flight to Singapore I was on the mend. We spent 3 nights there and I absolutely loved it.